Doubt of a Shadow
by Chansey Trainer
Summary: A trip to the junkyard leads to Gadget meeting a mysterious young mouse... (Not quite as cliched as it sounds.)
1. An Excursion

Doubt of a Shadow Chapter 1: An Excursion

Doubt of a Shadow

A Rescue Rangers Fanfic

This story was last revised 7/7/98.

Disclaimer:

Gadget Hackwrench, Monterey Jack, Zipper, Dale, Chip, Fat Cat, Professor Norton Nimnul, Meps, Snout, Wart, Mole, Jolly Roger, Rat Capone, Arnold Mousenegger, Sugar Ray Lizard, the Red Badger of Courage, Louwhiney, Shake-A- Bake-A, Sewernose de Bergerac, Chlordaine, Tammy, Bink, Kirby, Muldoon, Spinelli, Foxglove, Humphrey the bear, Bubbles, DTZ, Spunky, Mandy, Captain Fin, Flash the Wonder Dog, Maltese de Sade, Kismet, Normie Nimnul, Cheddarhead Charlie, Sureluck Jones, Sparky, Buzz, Queenie, Cassandra, Canina LeFur, Plato, Detective Drake, Geegaw Hackwrench, Frenchie, Que Sera, El Emenopio, Desiree DeLure, and Eliot the Elephant copyright the Walt Disney Corporation. (No, I don't have all these characters in my fanfic; it's my non-spoiler copyright notice. You may steal/distribute/modify my notice in your own works you want.)

Special thanks to John Nowak for giving me real feedback on the story.

**Chapter 1 (of 8): An Excursion**

"Aw, shoot!" Gadget exclaimed as a spring violently popped out of the Rangermobile and whizzed by her ear, missing her head by only an inch. "I hate when that happens!" She climbed out from under the skateboard car and watched the spring bounce wildly from wall to wall. Since the spring seemed to have no inclination to stop, she finally reached up and caught it in mid-air, then examined it. She noted that, after its wild trip, the spring had been stretched completely out of shape. "I guess when I caught it, it was suddenly taken beyond its point of elasticity..." Gadget sighed, realizing she had no other suitable springs in her workshop, and the spring couldn't be bent back into shape. She frowned for a moment before cheering up.

"I think I need a trip to the junkyard," she smiled; she loved browsing in places which had so many spare parts she could use. "Just for a little break."

Picking up her toolbox, Gadget walked into the Rangers' living room. Chip was studying a mystery novel, not just reading it, while Dale and Zipper watched a horror movie on TV. Some noises of metal clanging on metal mixed with the smell of cheese told her that Monterey Jack was in the kitchen preparing a post-dinner snack.

"Guys, I'm going to Pete's junkyard. I'll be back soon!" Gadget announced. Chip, Dale, and Zipper mumbled in acknowledgement, and Gadget knew they hadn't heard a word she said. She paused in the hallway, her tail and ears drooping a bit, involuntarily. Chip and Dale only lavished her with attention when they felt like it. If they were both occupied, they sometimes ignored her. Gadget wished they would at least be more consistent, preferably giving her affection in moderation, as Monty would say. Sighing, she went down the hall and climbed down the stairs she had constructed inside the tree, down to the little garage she had built into the tree's base. She stepped into the vehicle she had dubbed the Ranger Skate. Its propulsion was a fan wired to a 12-volt battery, mounted on a roller skate, instead of the Rangermobile's skateboard. It was slightly too small to fit the whole group comfortably; it only had one bench seat across the front, and some seatless space in the back. But it was Gadget's favorite vehicle to use on quick excursions to the junkyard or hardware store. It had great maneuverability, pretty good speed, and didn't seem lonely when it only had one passenger. Gadget's other vehicles were clearly designed for four or more; only the Ranger Skate reminded her of her days alone, before the Rangers--lonely days, but they had their charms. She had had no real worries, no obligations to anyone else. It was just her and her inventions. But, of course, she wouldn't trade her days as a Ranger for anything.

Gadget quickly put on her tennis-ball helmet, buckled her seat belt, and tossed her toolbox in the back of the vehicle. She flipped a switch she had added to the dashboard to turn the fan on, and drove the Ranger Skate out of the base of the tree and towards the nearest junkyard, which was several blocks away.

Pete's Junkyard was a typical dump, enclosed by a slightly rusty chain-link fence. Gadget drove over to the hole she and Monterey Jack had made by bending some of the fence upward--just large enough for one of Gadget's vehicles to drive through. But she saw that the bent wire had been fixed. Surprised but not overly concerned, Gadget shut off the Ranger Skate, took off her helmet and her seat belt, got out, picked up her toolbox, and climbed through one of the links of the fence.

"Now, what was I looking for?" the slightly absent-minded mouse asked herself. These forgetful spells struck her occasionally (as they strike most people). She knew that looking around the junkyard would help her remember whatever it was she had forgotten. "Hmm. I was working on the Rangermobile..." Suddenly, Gadget tripped over an ill-placed marble. She lay on the ground and studied the cat-eyed glass globe for a moment. "A marble...round...ball...bouncing... A spring! That's it!" Gadget got up and headed to the barely-organized piles of junk lying around.

Soon, she encountered a toaster in the messy junkyard. Getting out a screwdriver from her toolbox, she quickly pried open the toaster and found several functioning springs inside. She salvaged a few--they always came in handy--and knew any one of them could be used in the Rangermobile. She dropped them into her toolbox without even bothering to reap the other functioning parts from the toaster. The dark clouds covering the stars in the night sky made her uncomfortable, and she thought she heard thunder. The best thing would be to get home, before the rain started; she wasn't even wearing a jacket! Gadget was hurrying out of the junkyard when a piece of machinery caught her eye.

It was a laptop computer, its body appearing to be fully intact.

Gadget had wanted to get a computer for some time now--she had read books on how they were put together, and she and the other Rangers had snuck into the library after closing time and become fairly computer literate. But, so far, the old computers she had found in the junkyards had been practically useless--she had only managed to salvage a few chips here and there, most of which were old and slow, often completely obsolete. But this seemed to be a fairly current model, with little damage.

Gadget glanced at the sky again. She decided that it would be worth the risk of getting a little wet to check out her find.

The laptop was a nice shade of gray, with the rainbow Banana Computers logo on the lower center area of the cover. Gadget struggled with the latch and, with an effort, lifted the computer open.

Gadget was surprised to see that the keyboard and monitor were in perfect shape, too. Gadget had found old televisions and radios that had just blown a fuse, and could be repaired in minutes, but a laptop computer?

Plop Gadget felt a raindrop land square on her nose. She glanced around, scanning the junkyard for a waterproof place near enough for her to drag the computer to. Or maybe she could find something to cover the laptop instead. Or make the computer itself waterproof, or maybe... Deep in thought, she put her head in her paws and sat on the space bar of the computer--

"Aaaah!" Gadget cried as she felt a surge of electricity travel through her body, illuminating her like a gaudy Christmas tree angel. She quickly jumped away from the laptop, her hair singed and sticking straight out. "G--g--golly," she stuttered, dazed. "I wonder what caused that... Maybe the keyboard was somehow linked to the computer's internal power source, or maybe an outside source of electricity, such as lightning, or perhaps a disruption in the Earth's magnetic field..." It started to rain harder, and the water plastered Gadget's singed hair to her head. Soon, she was soaked through her overalls. As the ground beneath her started to turn to mud, the computer suddenly short-circuited, sending a spectacular shower of sparks all around in the rain.

"I don't think I want to fix that," Gadget sighed. She turned to leave and get back in the Ranger Skate before the sidewalks got too slick to drive on safely--

And found herself looking straight into the eyes of a growling dog.

Gadget knew the canine--Max, the loyal mutt that guarded the junkyard. He had dark brown fur, made darker by the rain that ran down his fur, and he somehow reminded Gadget of a cross between a greyhound and a pit bull. Normally, he watched the mouse's activities indifferently, but tonight, he seemed very angry for some reason.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded, still growling.

"I--I just came here to get some spare parts--n--nothing that your master would've wanted anyway..." Gadget stuttered.

"Thief!" barked Max. Lugging her toolbox with her, Gadget sprinted to the Ranger Skate. Out of habit, she buckled herself in, then flipped the dashboard 'on' switch to start the fan.

Nothing happened. Gadget desperately flicked the switch a few more times, to no avail. She quickly slipped out of her seat belt and hit the switch that was mounted on the fan itself. The fan blade started to spin, and Gadget breathed a quick sigh of relief, thankful that switch worked, at least. She leaped back into her seat before the fan got up to speed and drove off, too hurried to re-buckle her seat belt or strap on her helmet.

Gadget figured she was in the clear as she sped through the wet streets--even Max couldn't possibly get through that fence quickly enough to catch up with her. She glanced behind her, somehow uneasy, and did a double-take--

The gate was open!

Max easily sprinted after Gadget, out of the junkyard and through the rainy streets. Though the Ranger Skate was speedy, it couldn't quite outrun a big, angry dog. Still, maybe, with some fancy driving, she'd have a chance to escape.

Seeing that Max was right behind her, Gadget veered sharply to the left, sending her toolbox flying out of the skate. She hesitated a bit, and just touched her foot to the brake pedal, which applied pressure to the front wheels to slow the car. Normally, that would just have a gradual slowing effect, but something stuck, and the skate stopped dead in its tracks, sending Gadget flying headfirst out of her seat and into a red brick wall at the far end of a dark, dry alley. She hit the wall straight-on with her helmetless head as her life flashed before her eyes. She knew she had lived well and done a lot of good, but didn't want to let it all end yet. Gadget struggled to get up, to fight if she could, but couldn't even stand. She looked up and saw Max practically roar into the alley, knocking the Ranger Skate over on the way. As he ran at her, a horrible image filled Gadget's mind--how would the other Rangers find out what had happened to her? Would they discover a pair of goggles? A torn piece of lavender fabric? Max growled at the mouse angrily. Gadget dizzily dodged the dog's teeth as best she could while he snapped at her. She felt his hot breath, which smelled faintly of dog biscuits, as he tried to pick her up in his teeth. Gadget weakly kicked at Max's nose. Amused at her efforts, the dog laughed cruelly.

"You think that'll stop me?" he asked, taking a step back to look at her as he snickered. Suddenly, the dog screamed. Gadget watched in surprise as the dog lit up, his fur sticking straight up, and his skeleton showing through the white glow coming through his body. Gadget thought he had been struck by lighting, but the dog was alive, though singed and in a lot of pain, and there had been no thunder. Max turned around, growling. His growl dropped off in surprise, followed by a less angry but more annoyed snarl.

"What are you doing?" he cried. "The boss will have your head!"

"And who's going to tell?" a rather gravelly male voice asked. "The boss doesn't trust you. He only hired you today."

Max growled. The voice continued, sounding more angry.

"Leave her alone! Let me handle it--it'll be cleaner that way. Anyway, the boss want them alive, remember? Some good it'll do to rip her to shreds. I'll give you ten percent of the gold; that's a lot more then you'll get if the boss thinks you double-crossed him."

Max looked annoyed, but stalked off into the dark. A sudden flash of lighting illuminated the figure who had driven the dog off. He was a mouse, obviously teenaged, with gray fur and a black jacket that nearly reached down to his ankles. He had black pants and a turquoise shirt neatly tucked in. His dark black hair was damp, and reached to his chin. His eyes were brown and expressionless. He was wearing red rubber gloves that reached up to his elbows--they seemed to be handmade from a balloon. Gadget gasped as she saw just what he was holding with his gloves--a wire in each hand, both attached to the battery from the overturned Ranger Skate. So that was what had shocked Max! She took all this in in the flash of lightning, then closed her eyes in pain--she knew she had a concussion, and was getting an awful headache as well. When she opened her eyes again, the mouse wasn't even a foot away from her. She cringed, her confused mind telling her to expect some sort of unpleasantness in the near future, but noted just a slight change in the mouse's expression--a hint of concern. Gadget looked for the electrical wires, but saw they were hooked up to the fan again, and the skate was set upright. Gadget might've thought she'd imagined the whole rescue from Max, except the mouse was still wearing his red rubber gloves.

He approached Gadget and looked her straight in the eyes, still with no expression in his face. Gadget met his gaze for a second, then closed her eyes again, letting her head rest on the ground. She heard the mouse walk away, and heard some slight grunts and the sound of rolling wheels. She lifted her head and opened her eyes again. She saw the Ranger Skate right next to her; the mouse must've pushed it over to her. Gadget tried to get up, but sunk back down after a moment of effort, exhausted and pained. Suddenly, she felt an arm across her back, pulling her up. Gadget stumbled as the mouse helped her to the skate. She managed to get in the seat, but slumped down, struggling to stay conscious.

"It's... it's all right," the mouse said hesitantly. Gadget looked up, surprised. The mouse looked away uncomfortably. "Just rest," he said, looking down. "I can take you home." Gadget was much too tired to protest, and she closed her eyes again. She felt her seat belt being buckled. Her helmet was carefully placed on her head. Gadget was too exhausted and weak to tell the mouse that, despite his gentleness, he was still pulling her hair. She heard the switch in the dashboard being flipped, and this time it started the fan. Gadget sneezed as the Ranger Skate left the protection of the alley and went out into the dark, wet streets, which were being made wetter by the unceasing rain. She felt herself shivering uncontrollably in her seat. Suddenly, the fan stopped and the Ranger Skate veered a bit to the left, off the center of the deserted, wet sidewalk. Gadget opened her eyes and saw the gray mouse put his black jacket on her.

"I'll--uh--want it back when--once you're home," he stammered awkwardly, and soon, the Ranger Skate was moving again.

A million questions ran through Gadget's head. Who was this mouse? Why did he rescue her? Who was the 'boss'? How come he knew how to drive the Ranger skate? But Gadget was too polite, too tired, and too dazed to ask anything.

She found herself very warm all of a sudden--not too warm, but more comfortable than a wet mouse with a thin jacket over her would expect to be. She felt the black fabric with her fingers. It wasn't even as thick as her overalls, but she was sure that the jacket was keeping her so warm.

"What's this jacket made of?" Gadget finally asked, tiredly, but in a friendly manner.

The mouse looked over, surprised. "Huh? Oh. I dunno." He turned his head back to the road (or the sidewalk, anyway), but seemed to be focusing on some distant point. "My father gave it to me..." He looked sad for a second, but quickly turned angry, hitting the gas pedal as a reflex.

In her usual concerned manner (though she still had a massive headache and it was a struggle to keep her eyes open), Gadget asked, "What's wrong?" The mouse didn't reply. "Anything you'd like to tell me?" The mouse stayed silent. "I'm sorry," Gadget finally said, not explaining why. A sudden wave of pain crashed over her again, and she laid back, cringing her eyes shut. When she opened them again, the Ranger Skate was stopped at the foot of her tree. Noting this, Gadget struggled to move her arms, making them hand the mouse his jacket. He took it back quickly and slipped it on.

"Thanks for everything," said Gadget, trying again to get up, and failing. "Thanks for saving my life."

The mouse very nearly smiled, but stopped himself.

Gadget continued, "I...uh...My name's Gadget. If you ever need anything, I guess you know where we Rescue Rangers live--"

"I know more than that, Miss Hackwrench," the mouse said, raising his eyebrows knowingly, with just a hint of a smile. And, without another word, he slipped off into the rain.

"Gadget!" cried Zipper, flying down to the Ranger Skate and hugging her. His eyes, even larger than their usual size, showed his concern. "Are you all right?" he squeaked.

"Yeah, I--Achoo!" The gust of wind from Gadget's incredible sneeze drove Zipper back several inches.

"Gesundheit," squeaked Zipper. He gave Gadget a nod and a signal which said, 'I'll be right back,' then raced back up the tree to fetch the other Rangers. In less than a minute, two concerned chipmunks and a mouse had surrounded Gadget, who felt almost smothered, but was glad for her friends' concern.

"Are you all right?"

"What happened?"

"That's an awful bruise y' have there, luv!"

Mercifully, Zipper buzzed something about Gadget not feeling so well, and needing some rest and quiet. The other Rangers took the hint beautifully, and helped Gadget up to the house like real gentlemen. Gadget was pleased to see that Chip and Dale didn't even fight over who would help her--both put their arms around her to support her. And when Gadget got too tired to walk up the stairs, they stepped aside to let Monterey Jack carry her. Gadget wondered if the chipmunks were finally maturing.

That notion was quickly put to rest as soon as Gadget was safely in a teacup chair and the idea of making her hot chocolate arose.

"I'll make you some cocoa," said Dale sweetly. "With yummy little marshmallows in it--"

"You?" interrupted Chip. "You were too absorbed in your stupid monster movie to notice how long Gadget was gone--"

"Me? If your reading light hadn't burnt out, you'd still be reading that stupid novel--"

"At least it's not a comic book--"

"What's wrong with comic books?"

"They'll rot your brain, you--"

Their argument degenerated into an indecipherable bunch of shrill words, and finally escalated into a brawl. Gadget sighed, covering her ears as her head throbbed. Finally, Monterey separated the two, holding each chipmunk by his collar. Pulling Dale's teeth off of Chip's jacket, he admonished them.

"Quit it, you two!" he said. "Y' should be ashamed o' yerselves! Grown chipmunks fightin' like that--"

Gadget sneezed again, loudly.

In his most commanding voice, Monty said, "Chip, you go get Gadget a blanket an' a hot water bottle. Dale, make some cocoa." Each happy to have a respective task, the chipmunks ran off.

Gadget sighed, sniffling from her sneeze. "Is it just me, or are they getting worse?" she asked.

"Nah," said Monty, "they were just tryin' t' show you how worried they were. Once the rain an' the lightnin' started, we all were." Monterey was interrupted by Chip, who draped a blanket over Gadget. Thoughtfully, he had brought a towel as well, and wrapped Gadget's dripping, singed hair up in it.

"Thanks," said Gadget, as Chip went off to get a hot water bottle.

Soon, Gadget was sipping from a thimble-cup of hot chocolate (miraculously, Dale hadn't destroyed the kitchen making it), and feeling a bit better. At the request of the other Rangers, she related her adventure at the junkyard. The chipmunks seemed almost as worried at the mention of the mouse that had rescued Gadget as they were of the dog that almost killed her.

"Why'd you trust him?" asked Dale. "He could've electrocuted you!"

"I didn't really have a choice, Dale," Gadget smiled. "Anyway, he saved my life, in the end."

"We should've gone with you!" said Chip, worried. "What if that mouse hadn't helped you?"

"I doubt two chipmunks could've really helped fend off Max," said Gadget, "unless you guys would've come up with the same idea. Besides, I'm fine now. That's what's important." Gadget sneezed again, and Monty felt her forehead.

"Crikey! Yer hotter than a flamin' fire engine in Phoenix, luv! I think y' need some rest right now." Gadget didn't protest as the Rangers led her off to her bedroom.

"Thanks for your help, guys," she said, grateful for their attention. Though she was feverish and tired, at least her head felt better.

The Rangers shrugged off her thanks and wished her sweet dreams as they left her.

Quickly, Gadget slipped into her nightgown and snuggled under the cool covers of her bed. The last thought she had before slipping off to sleep was that she hadn't told the other Rangers that the mouse had known her last name...


	2. A Case

Doubt of a Shadow Chapter 2: A Case

Doubt of a Shadow

A Rescue Rangers Fanfic

**Chapter 2 (of 8): A Case**

Gadget woke up much later than usual the next morning--or, more accurately, the next afternoon. Worried, she felt her forehead, and found it was burning up! That meant she had a fever--didn't it? But then, if she had a fever, she wouldn't be able to tell she was hot, would she? Finally, Gadget just tried to get up, but her dizziness quickly forced her down again. Whether she had a fever or not, she was sick. She stared at the ceiling for a while, trying (and failing) to come up with a way to make herself better, until the noise of a shrill, spirited argument between two chipmunks broke into her thoughts. Though she really couldn't stand to hear them fight, Gadget could do little else but listen.

"It was your hot chocolate that--"

"What do you mean my hot chocolate? I didn't--"

"You must've given her salmonella or something--"

"Yeah, well, at least I'm not thinking about other girls!"

"Other girls?"

"Sal and Monella--"

"It's food poisoning, you dim bulb!"

"Me? You're the one usin' all the funny words--"

"Knock it off, you two," Monty stopped them. "We need to go investigate that string o' robberies--"

"Someone needs to watch Gadget if we're going anywhere," said Dale defensively.

"I will," said Chip. "Dale'll just make her sicker!"

"I will not! It's not my fault that--"

Thankfully, a knock at the door stopped the unseen argument short. Back in the main room of headquarters, Monty opened the front door, and an attractive female chipmunk carefully stepped in through the popsicle stick door. She was dressed in a tight but unrevealing green dress, and wore eye shadow to match. Her sandy hair wasn't tied back, and the graceful locks fell well past her shoulders. She seemed distressed, and cried out, in an attractive, high-pitched voice, "My family!"

Chip and Dale both rushed over to help her down the domino stairs. They sat her down on the couch and, after some quick nonverbal reassurance, gave her the usual line of questions.

"What's wrong?" the chipmunks asked in unison.

"My family...they were kidnapped!" she said, nearly crying.

"Who's your family?" Monty asked.

"My mother, my brother, my twin sister..." Despite their sympathy, Chip and Dale's eyebrows raised simultaneously. Twin sister? "Everyone!"

Craftily, Chip asked, "They didn't get your boyfriend, did they?"

"N--no," the chipmunk said, "neither Patricia nor I are dating anyone right now..." Chip and Dale couldn't help but smile inwardly, though they still felt sympathy for the poor chipmunk.

Dale said, "I'm Chip, and--I mean, I'm Dale, and that's Chip." Though he was flustered, he was still friendly. "What's your name?"

"Samantha." The chipmunk was near tears, and Chip scooted closer, putting his paw on her shoulder reassuringly.

"Do you know who might've done this?" he asked.

Samantha shook her head. "I don't know--this mole--he came by and said that if we didn't find some jewelry for him, we'd be sorry. We refused, and when I woke up this morning..." She started to cry, and Dale took her hand.

"It's okay," he said.

Even amid his infatuation, Chip's mind was working. "I'll bet Fat Cat's behind this. Don't worry, Samantha--we'll find your family." A gleam of hope entered the crying chipmunk's eyes.

"Really?" she asked.

"Ah'm sure of it," offered Monty confidently.

"Yeah," shouted Dale. "Now come on! Let's track down Fat Cat!" He was halfway out the door before Monty stopped him.

"Aren't we goin' ta tell Gadget?" he asked. Chip and Dale had completely forgotten about her; a pretty girl who was healthy was a lot more fun than one who was sick. And adventuring was more fun than fetching water for a feverish friend.

"Dale can stay," Chip volunteered.

"But I'll just make her sicker; you said that yourself," countered Dale.

"Yeah, but you guys need me to help solve the case!" Chip genuinely believed that the Rangers needed him to lead them, and couldn't function well without him.

"We can do it ourselves!" Dale wanted to do something exciting today, instead of just staying home.

"Oh, yeah?"

Zipper sensed a fight coming on, and buzzed his willingness to remain with Gadget, but Monty shook his head.

"I think it'll take the both of us to balance these two lads out," he motioned. Zipper sighed. "Look, you just go back and see if Gadget's all right. If she looks bad, we can always get Tammy or someone to watch 'er."

Zipper frowned--that didn't seem like a good idea to him. Sure, the squirrel seemed like she was over her crush on Chip, but she still seemed a little jealous of Gadget, and with good reason. Well, they'd figure out something. The fly obediently flew back to Gadget's room. He opened the door, and was pleasantly surprised to see that Gadget was awake. He started to squeak an explanation.

"No, I heard the whole thing," Gadget said, cutting him off. "Yeah, you all go ahead. I'll be fine here by myself." Zipper looked doubtful, so Gadget reassured him. "Really. I'm not that sick. That girl needs your help more than I do." Zipper still seemed uncertain, but he squeaked an 'okay' and a 'get better quick', and left Gadget, closing her bedroom door behind him.

He relayed that Gadget was awake and doing better, and the chipmunks (who had been concerned about their friend, despite their actions) smiled, relieved. The two hurried Samantha into the Ranger Plane, and soon the five of them were in the air. Chip was piloting, and the female chipmunk was in the front between Dale and him (half-sitting on Dale's seat, due to the inconveniently positioned controls in the center of the plane). Monty was in the back seat, and he and Zipper seemed to be the only ones watching where the plane was going.

"So, Chip, where 'ya headed?" Monty asked non-chalantly.

"Huh?" Chip asked, blinking out of his female-induced stupor. Somewhat flustered, he went on, "I don't know--I guess--"

"To the scene of the crime?" Zipper buzzed sarcastically.

"Yeah!" said Dale triumphantly. "The scene of the crime! Where do you live, Samantha?" Her house was quite a distance away, but Chip's flying greatly improved when he had a destination in mind, and at least Monty and Zipper no longer feared for their lives along the way.


	3. A Visitor

Doubt of a Shadow Chapter 3: A Visitor

Doubt of a Shadow

A Rescue Rangers Fanfic

**Chapter 3 (of 8): A Visitor**

Gadget couldn't get to sleep after the other Rangers left. She was sick with worry about them--what if they got in trouble? What if something went wrong with the Ranger Plane? What if it crashed, or broke down, or the balloon popped and they couldn't control it? What if they got attacked by hawks, or the compass stopped working, or someone got a papercut? It'd be her fault if anything bad happened to her friends.

Her more logical side reprimanded her. It wasn't her fault she was sick. Then again, maybe it was. She should've worn a jacket when she went out to the junkyard, or maybe asked for some company in case she got in trouble. She suddenly sighed, realizing why she hadn't asked anyone to come to the junkyard with her. She knew that Chip and Dale would just about kill each other fighting over who would get to go with her, but once in a while she just wanted privacy. She wasn't blind to their advances, but she really didn't feel anything for either of them...for anyone at the moment. Still, she couldn't say 'no' to them, or come out and say she wasn't interested. She wished herself back to the days when she had been oblivious--a long while back... Like when Chip had brought her a thimble with a flower in it, and Dale had invited her on a picnic... She had discarded the flower (sure, it was pretty, but the thimble was more useful at the time) and then assumed Dale meant for all the Rangers to go on a picnic, not just him and her. It wasn't until she met Sparky the lab rat that she realized how the chipmunks really felt about her. She had mostly been happy to find someone who shared her love of machinery, but the jealous reactions of the chipmunks showed her that they loved her, or at least lusted after her.

In an attempt to show how she had no deep feelings for Sparky, she had hugged both Chip and Dale. She had done this to show how important they were to her, how they'd always be friends. The hug was a gesture of comradeship, nothing more. Gadget knew, deep inside, that she wasn't in love with either of the chipmunks. Of course they were nice, and the attention was flattering, but she couldn't love them as any more than friends, or maybe even family. Not as boyfriends. Anyway, she knew she couldn't possibly have chosen between the two without hurting someone's feelings, and didn't like either of them enough to warrant such a sacrifice, which could cause arguments and maybe even break up the team.

She had wished the hugs back a million times. Both of the chipmunks had taken her hug as a go-ahead for even more flirting, each assuming she liked them both, and that they just had to convince her to choose one or the other. Still, Gadget doubted their sincerity--how quickly they had fought over their female visitor! Once Gadget's father had told her all guys were easily distracted by pretty girls, and, though she had once doubted this, she now figured he had a point, although most girls could be distracted by handsome men, as well. Even she had been flattered by both of the chipmunks' advances at one point or another. Sometimes she still was. Yet Gadget couldn't stand to see Chip and Dale fight over her, and didn't really love either of them. So she hoped that Samantha and her sister would fall in love with Chip and Dale, and vice-versa, so everyone would be happy.

"Just tell them both you're not interested," a vaguely familiar voice offered. Gadget looked up and saw the mouse who had saved her life the night before, standing in front of her bed. Gadget was rather frightened.

"H--how'd you know what I was thinking about?" she stammered.

The mouse smiled. "You were a little delirious," he said. "I heard you ranting about not loving Chip and Dale..."

Gadget wasn't sure if the red glow she felt on her face was due to embarrassment or a fever. Thankfully, the mouse seemed to attribute it to the latter. He handed her a thimble cup, saying, "You're going to burn up if you don't get some liquids."

"Thanks," said Gadget, taking the cup instinctively. She then frowned suspiciously--this mouse was practically a stranger, and hadn't he been sent to bring her to 'the boss?' Gadget looked at the mouse, a bit suspiciously, then sniffed at the liquid. It had a slight scent--one somehow familiar and pleasant. Suddenly Gadget felt thirsty, though she knew she was too tired to get up for a drink. If she was going to get anything, it would be what was in the glass. She hesitated, then finally sipped. The beverage tasted funny (but again, familiar), and made Gadget wrinkle her nose in disgust. "What is this stuff?"

"Just drink it," the mouse said. "It's an old family recipe. Well, I called them my family. Just a bunch of mice my age living in a gutter." Gadget looked up suspiciously--the Rangers had had more than one run-in with that group. All were thieves, some worse, and once, a group of them had vandalized and looted their treehouse while the Rangers were in Minnesota on a case. "No, don't worry--I'm not one of them anymore," the mouse said seriously. "Please, trust me." Gadget looked into the mouse's eyes, and somehow did trust him. Anyway, if he had wanted to take her to someone, wouldn't he have done it while she was nearly unconscious? Why drug her now? And Gadget had never been poisoned, but had tasted that taste before, so it couldn't be anything bad, could it? She closed her eyes, then downed the whole glassful of liquid.

"It'll help you feel better," the mouse said. Gadget suddenly realized that the taste was from her childhood--once, when she had been feverish, her father had whipped up something remarkably similar to what she had just drank.

"What's in that, anyway?" Gadget motioned to the now empty thimble cup.

The mouse shrugged. "I'll leave you a recipe." After a rather awkward silence, he extended his paw to her. "My name's Shadow."

"That's a nice name," said Gadget absently, taking his paw and giving it a strong shake. "You know, I think I feel a little better already." Shadow offered her a small 'I told you so' smile.

"Why are you here?" asked Gadget after a while, confused. "I mean, the Rangers went with that girl and--"

Shadow looked over his shoulder towards the window. "Oh, yeah. That reminds me. I...I gotta go..."

"Wait..."

"It's been nice talking to you, Miss Hackwrench," Shadow said. "I'll see you later."

"Don't leave," Gadget requested.

"I...I'll come back later, " the mouse replied. "Goodbye!"

Shadow slipped out through the window, not even asking to use the door, and leaving Gadget confused, and maybe the slightest bit suspicious, but at least with something to wonder about other than what to do about Chip and Dale.

Samantha's house was dug into an oak tree, much like the Rangers' house. But this place smelled musty, and contained just three small rooms, which were sparsely furnished and not too well-kept. The Rangers searched them, along with the surrounding limbs of the tree, but nothing showed up. Finally, Samantha remembered something.

"I found this note." She pulled out a scrap of paper from the top of her dress, much to Chip and Dale's joy.

"Oh, brother," Zipper squeaked, rolling his eyes.

The note read:

Dear 'friend,'

If you wish to have your family restored to you, please enlist some help, then come to my headquarters. If not, I will be forced to have your family over for dinner.

Hungrily yours, Fat Cat.

The ornate signature at the bottom showed the note to be a true work, not a forgery.

"What are we waiting for?" asked Dale impatiently. "We have to rescue Samantha's family!" Chip was almost as blindly enthusiastic. For once, though, Monty was reluctant.

"I don't know, you two. It seems like a clear-cut trap to me."

Chip replied, "I know, but we have no choice but to try."

Dale continued, "He'll eat her family if we don't!" Samantha shuddered. "Oh, sorry," Dale apologized.

Chip said, "I'm sure they'll be fine. We'll just leave you here, Samantha, where it's safe, and bring your family back when we--"

"I'll go with you," said Samantha, sounding determined. The chipmunks admired her tenacity.

"All right," said Chip, "but be careful, and stay out of our way."

"We wouldn't want you to get hurt!" Dale added.

The chipmunks quickly exited the house and got in the plane. Monty and Zipper paused to exchange concerned glances as they reluctantly walked to the plane.

"A six-toed cat with a bloomin' machine gun's less dangerous than a couple a lads who've just seen a pretty face," Monty muttered under his breath as he got into the plane.

Soon, the Ranger Plane was circling the roof of the Happy Tom Cat Food Cannery, going around a few times before landing. The building itself was several stories tall, but Fat Cat resided in the head of the giant cat figure that decorated the roof. The body was Fat Cat's casino, a hot spot for all sorts of animal gamblers. When they touched down, Chip's inattentiveness to the plane caused it to nearly crash into a wall. With a cry of "Whoa!", he pulled back and stopped the plane only an inch or two from the bricks.

"Chipper, lad, you might wanna watch where you're goin'!" Monty cried. Zipper buzzed around Chip, admonishing him.

"Right," said Chip, getting out of the plane. "Now, come on. Let's go find Samantha's family." Dale jumped out, and helped Samantha down off the wing of the plane.

"Thank you, Dale," she said, blushing. Chip glared at Dale, who very nearly stuck his tongue out at his friend.

"Sssh," said Monty, looking around. "We want to surprise Fat Cat, and his office is awful close."

"Are we gonna go in through the casino?" squeaked Zipper.

"Oh..." Chip said, trailing off. "I'm not really in a mood to do another dance number..." He half-blushed at the questioning look Samantha gave him. Suddenly, he stopped and forced Samantha and himself against the nearest wall. Dale, Monty, and Zipper instinctively did the same. All held their breaths as a suspicious-looking mouse with gray fur and a black jacket passed by. He didn't see the Rangers, and punched in a code on a small keypad on the side of the giant cat figure. A hidden door opened, and the Rangers saw the mouse look both ways, right past them, before he disappeared up a steep stairway. Zipper rushed over to the door and held it open as it started to close. He motioned the other Rangers closer.

"This must be a secret entrance to Fat Cat's office," he buzzed.

"D'you think we can get in without him noticin'?" Monterey asked suspiciously. Zipper tried to shrug, but couldn't; he was using all his energy to keep the door open. Monty reached over and held it for him. Zipper rested on Monty's shoulder, squeaking appreciatively.

"Well, lads, are we gonna do this?" the Australian mouse finally asked.

"We have to," said Chip, determined, "but try to be quiet about it." Starting up the stairs, and not noticing that Samantha was no longer with them, he whispered, "Rescue Rangers away!"

Meanwhile, Fat Cat spoke to the gray mouse in his office.

"So, Shadow, did you bring them here?"

Shadow nodded soberly. "They'll be up in a minute."

Fat Cat tried to hide his own immense pleasure. "Excellent," he said. "Now we'll just wait for them to come to me."

Shadow seemed somewhat concerned as he asked, "About the gold...when are you going to pay me?"

"As soon as all the Rescue Rodents are dead. Though I'm really doing you a favor by disposing of them. In your line of work, you don't need them meddling."

Shadow cringed, almost imperceptibly. "Yeah. I know..." He nervously asked, "But let's say one of the Rangers doesn't show up. Just one. Would I still get the gold?"

Fat Cat looked angry, and extended the claws on his right paw. "Why? Did you...forget one?"

Shadow swallowed instinctively, unable to think straight. "Of course not! But one of them might..." He saw Fat Cat's glare, and shook his head. "Uh...nothing...they'll...uh... I'll get 'em all...it just might...you know..."

Fat Cat continued, "Well, Shadow, if you did 'forget' any..." He drew a claw gently over the mouse's throat.

Shadow shuddered, then backed up nervously. Suddenly, the two both heard whispers.

"Hey, the door's stuck!"

"Step aside an' let Monterey Jack knock it open--"

"Sssh! Be quiet, you two!"

Fat Cat grinned and pressed a button on his desk. Suddenly, a thick metal partition slammed down behind the Rescue Rangers, trapping them. Fat Cat bent down and whispered to Shadow, "Our visitors are here." Shadow fidgeted. Fat Cat walked over to the door and pressed a button to open it. He scooped up the Rangers before they had a chance to run off, and caught them by their collars on the claws of his left paw. Zipper was still free, though, and he flew towards the window.

"Catch him, Shadow!" shouted Fat Cat. The mouse ran after the fly, and caught him in a tackle.

"Good work," smiled Fat Cat. He looked over his prisoners, counting. Surprised and angry, he asked, "Where's Gadget?"

"I dunno," said Shadow, shrugging and sounding indifferent, but almost rebellious. He was a lot braver when Fat Cat's claws weren't near him. "Who's she?"

If Fat Cat's paws hadn't been full, he would've hit his head angrily--or perhaps Shadow's. "Who's Gadget?--I showed you pictures of them! She's the inventor mouse, you dimwit!"

"Oooooh," said Shadow, grinning, with an exaggerated air of understanding. "Her."

"Where is she?" Fat Cat had lost his temper completely. Shadow didn't reply. "Is she in the tree?"

Shadow shrugged again, seriously. "I haven't seen her."

"Hmm," pondered Fat Cat. "Maybe I'll send one of my lackeys over that way..."

The other Rangers were very worried. Monterey offered, "Don't worry, pallys--Gadget could get past any of Fat Cat's blokes--why, they're as dumb as a buncha bloomin' lobotomized eucalyptus leaves!" The chipmunks and Zipper, who were still trying to free themselves from the grasp of their respective captors, sighed in subdued relief, although all of them knew that Gadget was still sick--barely conscious. None dared to show their concern, though, somehow hoping the others had forgotten about their friend's condition. Fat Cat grinned, and used a free finger to press a button on his desk, next to a speaker.

"Mittens? I have a job for you."

While he waited, Fat Cat placed each of the Rangers into individual jelly jars on the floor, each with a few minute holes in the lid to let air in. Dale touched his jar and found the inside was still sticky. He was hungry, and took to nervously licking the grape-flavored sugar off his fingers, and then the jar.

"No need to rush things," Fat Cat purred, stretching lazily. "I'd like to wait until you're all together before I do away with you." The Rangers shuddered.

"You'll never get away with this!" shouted Chip angrily. His cry reverberated through the jar, but a muted reply reached Fat Cat.

"Oh, believe me, I will," said Fat Cat, picking up Chip's jar and looking him in the eye. "You see, I realized why you Rangers have always been able to foil my schemes. My companions have been more than a little on the...slow side. But now--"--he motioned at Shadow--"I've enlisted help from more capable assistants."

As if on cue, a confident-looking female cat pushed Fat Cat's door open and stalked in. She was almost all black, with strange, entrancing turquoise eyes which seemed to gleam with intelligence. Her silvery whiskers further complimented her appearance. She had slight patches of gray on her four paws, hence her name. Her dull turquoise dress matched her eyes elegantly, and it fit her muscular body nicely. Nearly purring, she gracefully rubbed her hips and tail against Fat Cat's desk, looking at him.

"You wished to see me?" she asked in a silky voice.

"Yes, Mittens," said Fat Cat, rummaging through a desk drawer. "I was wondering, my dear, if you could track down this mouse and bring her to me?" He dramatically drew out a picture of Gadget. Chip recognized the shot as one they had taken on vacation from a roll they thought they had misplaced.

"Of course I shall find her," Mittens purred, "for a small price."

"Name it," Fat Cat said.

"If you would merely allow me to consume her," she smiled. "I shall bring her back here, but I find it only fitting that we should dine together tonight..." She cast an adoring glance at Fat Cat, a look which made every non-feline in the room nauseous.

"Of course, my dear," he said, smiling back. "Just make sure you bring her back, and we'll share a meal, Mittens."

Mittens turned to go, then noted a look of panic in the Rangers' eyes. "Oh, what's wrong?" she asked, feigning sympathy. "Don't be sad. If your little Gadget is so capable, she shall easily elude me, yes?"

Chip's intuition echoed that of the other Rangers--he didn't think the Rescue Rangers as a team would be able to easily deal with such a sleek cat as Mittens, let alone one Ranger by herself.

Glancing around, Chip noted that the grey mouse seemed to be a bit frightened as well. Maybe he was afraid Fat Cat would eat him, too... Suddenly, without a word, the mouse hit a button on the wall by the door, causing it to open, and darted out of the room.

"I wonder where he's off to," Mittens mused in her silky voice.

"He probably wants to bring Gadget back himself," smiled Fat Cat. "As if I'd pay him, even then! No, I was planning a six course meal...with you, of course, my dear."

"Don't worry," Mittens said smoothly. "I'll bring both of them back in time for..." She paused for effect. "Dinner." Smiling, she stalked out of the room, leaving the other Rangers to wait nervously as Fat Cat watched them like a hometown basketball game.

Shadow rushed out of the passageway to Fat Cat's office, then sprung into the Ranger Plane, buckling his seat belt and praying he could fly it. Gadget's inventions were user-friendly enough--not only had he been able to disconnect the dashboard switch on the fan in the Ranger Skate, but he had driven it easily as well. The electrified laptop, on the other hand, had taken him days to hook up, and had painfully made his already gray fur a bit smokier in hue more than once. As he messed with the controls, he saw Samantha coming out from the casino, where she had been playing slots. "What are you doing, kid? Where's my gold?"

Shadow had played his cards well, so to speak. He knew Samantha would do anything for money; she was dead broke from gambling in Fat Cat's Casino. He had gotten her to do practically all the work in capturing the Rangers for only a quarter of the payment.

"Uh...This is a great plane," Shadow said. "I thought I'd take it for a spin. And you'll get your money soon."

"Well, you could at least offer me a ride back home," Samantha pouted. She was only a couple years older than Shadow, but she looked like an experienced adult. She always tried to use her looks to get what she wanted, be it a money, food, or a plane ride, and she almost always succeeded.

Shadow shook his head. "It's not my home anymore--not when I get the gold to get out of there."

"Well, it's your home right now," Samantha replied. "I'm disappointed to hear you're leaving us..."

"Yeah, well, things change. After you all looted their tree--"

"They're a bunch of vigilantes," Samantha said. "Those Rescue Rangers don't even know the meaning of the word 'justice.' You think they'd listen to our side of the story? Maybe if we had had caring parents like they had--"

"You can't blame it on that. Our parents didn't make us steal--"

Samantha laughed. "Oh, look at the goody-no-shoes, trying to right all the wrongs in the world...So you're bettering your position by handing over your 'heroes'?"

"They're not my heroes!" Shadow was starting to get angry.

"Then why are you stealing their plane?"

Shadow shook his head. "I'm borrowing it!"

Samantha laughed again. "'Borrowing,' huh? We both know what that means..."

Shadow tuned out Samantha and crossed his fingers, then hit a few buttons. The plane's wings started flapping wildly, and the landing gear took him backwards. He turned the wheel and hit a few more buttons, and the plane started to travel forward. Shadow pulled up the bottlecap steering wheel as sharply as he could, and the plane floated off, leaving Samantha and Fat Cat's Casino far below.

Shadow let out a nervous sigh. He had no idea what he was going to do now. But something inside him had objected to Fat Cat taking Gadget--he wasn't sure why. He scanned his memory for anything he knew about her, any reason he would risk losing enough gold to leave the country and start over to save her, but it came up blank. There was just something about her. He knew the other Rangers wouldn't understand him; no one had ever understood him. But somehow Shadow thought Gadget might. He had observed the Rangers for a few weeks before he had Samantha lure them to Fat Cat's, and she seemed different than the others. More trusting and sweet, yet still brilliant. She seemed like someone you'd want on your side, someone you'd like to be friends with. Someone you'd feel bad for after you electrocuted, someone you'd want to make up to. He hadn't had enough time to fix the Ranger Skate after he had sabatoged it, so she could make a clean getaway, but he hadn't let Max get her, either. And he knew he couldn't let Mittens get to her. Steering as best he could, Shadow flew towards the Rangers' tree, his heart pounding nervously.


	4. A Betrayal

Doubt of a Shadow Chapter 4: A Betrayal

Doubt of a Shadow

A Rescue Rangers Fanfic

**Chapter 4 (of 8): A Betrayal**

Shadow's landing was closer to a crash than anything else. He tried to touch down lightly, but the landing gear didn't stop, and the plane went straight into the popsicle-stick door, finally stopping with its nose jammed halfway through the doorway. Shadow managed to climb over the dashboard of the plane and slide down into the house. He ran to the door of Gadget's bedroom and knocked.

"Miss Hackwrench, you need to get out of here!" After no one answered, Shadow knocked again, then opened the door. Gadget wasn't in her room. Was he too late? Suddenly, he heard the noise of a sputtering hair dryer. Following it, he soon found himself in Gadget's workshop. Gadget was there, dressed in her familiar lavender overalls again, and working too intently on the hair dryer to notice as her visitor came in.

"Miss Hackwrench!" he shouted a few times, louder each time he spoke. In frustration, he cried, "Gadget!"

The inventor looked up, and quickly turned the hair dryer off. "Hi, Shadow," she replied. "Thanks for that medicine--I feel a lot better."

"Miss Hackwrench--"

"You can call me Gadget," she interrupted.

"Gadget--"

"Unless you don't feel comfortable. I mean, I'd guess I'm only a few years older than you, but no one's really called me Miss Hackwrench too many times, unless it was to flatter me when they were older than I was or something, but maybe that was just--"

"Gadget!" Shadow cried. "You need to leave your house," he continued, urgently.

"Why?" asked Gadget, already following Shadow out of her workshop. Before Shadow had a chance to reply, Gadget saw the Ranger Plane poking through the door. "What's that doing here? Didn't the other Rangers take it when they left?"

"I flew it here," Shadow said hurriedly.

"Then where's the rest of the team?" Gadget asked.

"They got caught by Fat Cat." Shadow looked at the floor for a moment, then met Gadget's gaze. The inventor's eyes opened wide in shock.

"What? Are they all right?"

For some reason, Shadow was surprised to see the look of intense concern in her eyes, and he forgot the cool, ambiguous answers he had come up with to tell Gadget on the way to her house. "Yeah, they're fine! Fat Cat said he wouldn't eat them until he caught you. That's why you have to leave!"

Gadget stared at him for a second. "How--how do you know what Fat Cat said?"

Unable to think of a better response, Shadow mumbled, "I...was...there..."

"Why?"

Shadow finally said, "I'm sure they'll be fine!"

Gadget looked at him suspiciously. "How do you know?" she asked with pain in her voice. After a moment, she asked, "Why are you here?"

"To get you to leave! Fat Cat sent someone here to get you!"

"Why do you know so much about him?" Gadget asked, sounding curious. "Are you helping him?"

Shadow's silence spoke for him.

"You are! Did you lead the other Rangers to Fat Cat?"

"No!" Shadow shouted. "Samantha did!"

"Did you help?"

"All I did was pay her!" Shadow blurted out.

Gadget stared at him, and narrowed her eyes in disgust. Shadow knew she was too angry for words, and was almost afraid that she'd spit on him, or slap him. "You...you...I can't believe..."

"Gadget, I'm sorry," Shadow said in a low voice, looking at the floor.

"Why did you do it?"

Shadow shook his head, not raising his eyes. "I didn't want to, but I needed money. You can't understand what it's like. To spend your life alone, with no one who cares if you live or die, without even parents..."

"My parents are dead!" Gadget cried. "That's no reason to hand over someone's friends to be eaten!"

Shadow suddenly realized why Gadget was different than the others--why he hadn't been able to give her to Fat Cat. She did understand what it was like to be left alone in an uncaring world. The other Rangers didn't. And yet, somehow, Gadget had been above stealing, and she still trusted others around her. Gadget was what Shadow could've been, if things had just turned out differently...if he had tried harder.

"Come on, please," Shadow pleaded, walking towards the door blocked by the Ranger Plane. "Whether you want to rescue your friends or just live, you need to leave before Mittens--" He gasped, looking out the door. There was Mittens, toying with the controls of the Ranger Plane. She had already released its balloon, and, though he was no pilot, Shadow figured it was already broken beyond flight, for the time-being, anyway.

"She's here!" Shadow whispered, turning back to Gadget. The latter glared at him, and walked to the door to see. Sure enough, there was a sleek black cat near the plane, holding on to the tree limb with her back clawed feet.

"Hello," Mittens smiled at her nonchalantly. Gadget quickly backed away from the doorway.

"Shadow," Mittens continued, "I saw you in there! Bring Gadget out here, and maybe our boss will still pay you!"

Shadow motioned to Gadget. "If you go with us, it'll be easy to take Fat Cat by surprise," he whispered.

Gadget looked angry. "You want me to trust you? Do you think I'm stupid?" she whispered fiercely. "You'd probably turn me in exchange for...for a broken worm gear or something!"

Shadow looked down; he didn't know how much a worm gear was worth, let alone a broken one, but was able to guess what Gadget meant. "I...I didn't know it'd be like this..."

"You didn't know I'd be upset when you gave my teammates--my friends--to a cat who wants them all dead?"

Shadow turned away, looking down. When he had been watching and researching the Rescue Rangers, he had figured that Gadget was the deepest member of the group; the others seemed simple, and almost one-dimensional to him. Yet Gadget obviously saw something in each of them. Something worthwhile. He decided he'd need to save Gadget's life four times to make up for causing the deaths of her four friends--a life for a life, so to speak. But so far, the only thing putting her life in danger was his deal with Fat Cat. The cat had asked Max the dog to bring the Rangers back, dead or alive, when he thought Shadow wasn't working quickly enough. Shadow hadn't really saved Gadget's life, but merely restored it--it was his fault she had been in trouble! The odds of him actually finding four independent occasions to save her, just to make things even, were slim to none. Even though he wasn't fond of the other Rangers, he knew he had to help Gadget save them, or his conscience would never be clear of their deaths. But how could he get her to trust him again...?

Shadow quickly slipped out of his jacket. Holding it by the collar, he handed it to Gadget. "Here," he said. "Take it."

Gadget shook her head. "I don't want your silly coat."

"It's not silly!" Shadow said defensively. He shook his head, then spoke softly. "I know you don't want to trust me. I just took your friends from you. And I'm sorry, I swear. Look, I've had this jacket since I was little. I keep everything important I have in it. I..." He glanced up at Gadget, who was still angry but also a bit interested. Shadow continued swiftly, thrusting the jacket into her paws. "I don't have any friends to lose--this jacket's all I've got. I want you to take the most important thing to me until we can get the things most important to you back."

Gadget was almost speechless. She had guessed that Shadow was really fond of his black jacket, and he sounded sincere. She slowly put the jacket on. "One more chance," she said seriously. "But if you even think about hurting the others again, I'll..." She shook her head.

Shadow sighed and smiled a little, nervously. "Thank you," he said. "You can trust me."

Gadget shook her head once, then seriously whispered, "Come with me to the other door. I'm still fixing the 'Wing, but we can try to make a run for it. " She tried the mailbox door, but it wouldn't open. She examined the door's seams. "We're glued in!" she exclaimed, alarmed.

"Could we get out a window?" Shadow asked. They looked around and saw that every window in the room was covered up by a sheet of glass crazy-glued over the frame. Gadget and Shadow futilely tried to push the glass off.

"Help me check the rest of the windows," whispered Gadget to Shadow.

"You'll find they're all stuck," Mittens said coolly. "There's only one way out, and you'll find I'm guarding it. Shadow, if you come out now, maybe the boss won't eat you like he said he would."

"What?" Shadow asked in spite of himself. His genuine surprise and anger amazed Gadget, and made her almost pity him, even if a double-cross was technically what he deserved.

Mittens smiled. "I suppose Fat Cat didn't tell you, but he wasn't going to pay you at all. He's going to eat you."

Shadow stared, shocked, at the doorway.

"That's the problem with bad guys," Gadget whispered. "You can never trust them."

"Gadget," Shadow said sincerely, looking at her, with pained eyes. "I'm so sorry I betrayed your friends..."

Gadget shuddered briefly, remembering again that her closest friends were trapped, and could be killed at any time. She blinked a few times, then, with a determined look on her face, whispered, "We'll get 'em back--come on."

Gadget led Shadow to the hallway, out of sight of the front door. She quickly opened a door and walked down a long staircase, not looking behind her to see that Shadow was following. It took a couple minutes for them to reach the end of the stairs, and Gadget stepped into the Rangers' garage, then quickly and carefully tried the garage door at the foot of the tree. She opened it a crack to make sure it wasn't stuck, and motioned to the Ranger Skate, the only vehicle down there at the time. "Get in."

Shadow silently obeyed, and Gadget threw a helmet at him while he put on his seat belt. She put one on herself, and quickly opened the door. She jumped in the Ranger Skate and started it, buckling her seat belt as the fan started to turn. Gadget drove the vehicle as quickly as it would go, out of the grass of the park and onto the sidewalk, and then out into the city. She kept her eyes focused ahead of her, but Shadow glanced back behind them. He sucked in his breath.

"The cat's following us!"

"How fast?" Gadget asked.

"She's walking pretty quick--she's gaining on us."

Gadget cringed. "We need a plan." Thinking quickly, she turned to Shadow. "Take the wheel."

"But I don't know how to--"

"You drove well enough when you took me home."

"Do you trust me to?" Shadow asked, his voice low.

Gadget looked over at him for a second before answering. "Yes," she said simply, to Shadow's surprise. Gadget unbuckled her seat belt and went to the fan in the back of the Ranger Skate. Shadow slid into Gadget's seat, caught the wheel, and managed to steer fairly well, though the vehicle was going at its maximum speed.

Gadget rummaged through the pockets of Shadow's coat, searching for his rubber gloves. Fumbling, she cut her finger on something sharp. She carefully pulled the item out, thinking it was a knife, and was surprised to see that it was a fragment from a mirror, perhaps a poor mouse's switchblade. She put it back and found the gloves in another pocket. She put them on and disconnected the wires that linked the battery to the fan. The fan blades slowed to a stop.

""Gadget, what are you doing?" Shadow cried, glancing back from the driver's seat.

As Mittens drew nearer, Gadget whispered, "When I say go, run for your life."

Shadow gave Gadget a doubting glance, but undid his seat belt.

Gadget bent down and pulled off a metal bar from the framework of the Ranger Skate. She pushed it through the cage that surrounded the fan, lodging it between the blades. Then, she reconnected the wires, awkwardly. As Mittens approached, Gadget readied herself, and when the cat was only a foot or two away, Gadget pulled the bar out and shouted, "Run!"

The battery had been connected backwards, and the fan, which was up to full speed but had been held back by the piece of metal, powered the Ranger Skate backwards to hit Mittens square in the nose. Surprised and a bit hurt--the cage hadn't protected the tip of her nose from the spinning blades--Mittens let out a pained yowl, and overturned the skate viciously with her paw. Shadow and Gadget weren't in it, though, and when Mittens finally regained her wits, they were nowhere to be seen.

"I don't like this place," said Shadow, breathing hard with exhaustion and looking around him when they finally got far enough away from Mittens to be confident she wouldn't find them. The room was filled with long wooden benches leading up to the front, where the raised podium was all but obscured by the light coming from the huge stained-glass window behind it. Not only were they in a church, but it was one of the beautiful old-time churches, the kind which made people feel like mice and mice feel like ants.

"It's not like you're gonna get struck dead in here. I've already forgiven you--I'm sure that if you asked God--"

"I know! He helped me rescue you!" Shadow whispered fiercely.

Suddenly, one of the large double doors in the main entrance of the church opened slightly, and a scared, dirty little girl came in.

"Please...help me..." she said.

Neither Gadget nor Shadow knew who was the man who appeared almost out of nowhere to answer the girl--probably a priest or deacon or something.

He put his arm around the girl and led her into another room. "Don't worry, honey. Everything will be all right." Shadow looked after them, his eyes open wide, almost longingly. After a few seconds, he glanced over at Gadget and turned away, ashamed. Gadget just looked at him.

"Are you all right?" she finally asked.

Shadow looked at the ground, turning pink. "Yeah," he said. "I just wonder...if I had asked for help...I don't think anyone would've cared."

"There's always people who care," Gadget answered, touching Shadow's arm. "You just have to find them. Or let them find you."

A while later, a door opened, and the little girl and the man with her came out. The girl was now clean, wearing nicer clothes, and eating a sandwich.

"Your aunt will be here soon, Laura," the man said, smiling at her. The girl nodded, seeming comforted. She looked down and saw Gadget and Shadow. She shied back, scared.

"Mouses!" she cried.

Gadget and Shadow froze, and, as the man bent down to look at them, they ran and hid under a pew.

"It's all right," the man said calmly and quietly, addressing the mice as he slowly approached them. "I won't hurt you." Sympathetically, he looked down at the scared creatures and said, "I'll bet you two are hungry. Laura, would you give them some of your sandwich?"

The girl was trembling. "Laura, they're scared of you too." The man took a piece of Laura's sandwich and dropped it in front of the mice. Gadget was trusting, and, more importantly, hungry, not having eaten that day, so she picked up the crumb.

"You hungry?" she asked Shadow.

Laura gasped. "They're squeaking!"

"They're talking," the man corrected. "Watch."

Gadget sniffed at the food. "It's peanut butter and jelly. You want some?"

"What kind of jelly?"

"Gadget took a bite and answered with her mouth full. "Grape."

Shadow looked up suspiciously at the man. "I suppose he wouldn't poison a little girl..." Gadget pulled the piece of sandwich into two, and they both ate, looking up every so often at the humans. The mice seemed fairly relaxed. Laura was amazed by all of this, as if the mice were robots or dolls.

"Can I pet one?" she asked.

"You'd better not," the man answered. "They're wild animals--you don't want to scare them."

Gadget smiled appreciatively at the man. Even though she liked kids, she didn't usually like being petted too long by complete strangers, especially when children tended to pull her hair or squeeze her too hard. Shadow was just surprised that a person would actually respect their right to exist for something other than human pleasure. It was just as well; he probably would have bitten the girl had she tried to touch him.

After watching the mice for another minute, the man said, "Come on, Laura. Let's go outside and wait for your aunt."

"Bye," Laura waved to the mice. Gadget waved back, and the girl laughed, obviously delighted. The two humans left.

Gadget smiled at Shadow. "Wasn't that cute?"

Shadow shrugged, raising an eyebrow, and spoke with his mouth full of sandwich. "Sure. Not that I enjoy being put on display like a circus freak."

"Hey," said Gadget, "maybe that girl won't set any mouse traps, at least. It's a start." They chewed in silence for a few minutes, having a little trouble swallowing the sticky peanut-butter and jelly sandwich. Finally, Gadget said, "What are we going to do now?"

Shadow shrugged again. "I don't know. What?"

Gadget leaned against a leg of the pew and thought. Sounding very nearly annoyed, she asked Shadow, "Where are the other Rangers?"

"In Fat Cat's hideout," he answered without hesitation. "At least, they were there the last I checked," he corrected.

Sighing, Gadget said, "I'm so worried about them...what if they're... not alive?"

"I'm sure they're fine," Shadow said. "He wants to get you all together before he does anything, you know."

Gadget sat down, leaning against the pew leg, and saw that her paws had jelly on them. She absently wiped them off on the pantleg of her overalls.

"I hope you're right," she sighed.

Mittens entered Fat Cat's office via the elevator. Her natural good looks were now marred by a bandage on her nose. She glanced at Fat Cat, who grinned at her, leaving his prisoners to meet her.

"Mittens, my dear, where did you put the mice you found for me?"

Mittens narrowed her eyes, motioning at her bandage. "I didn't get them."

The Rangers all breathed a sigh of relief, but Fat Cat was angry. "What?" he cried.

"They got away. Shadow helped her. He knows you're not going to pay him, and he helped her escape."

Fat Cat asked, "Where are they?"

"I don't know--their car hit me, and I lost track of them."

"Well, go find them!" Fat Cat was less than sympathetic.

Mittens's mouth grimaced as she thought for a moment. Suddenly, her eyes got big, and she looked at Fat Cat sadly.

"But, my dear, I tried so hard! They were just too much for someone like me..." She hid her face in her paws and started to make sobbing noises.

Fat Cat very nearly lost his cool. "Mittens! It's all right! Don't cry!" He waited a moment before continuing, now sounding more in control. "Mittens, let's go take a little break. There's a show in my casino in a few minutes--let's go watch it. Who knows? When we come back up here, maybe we'll catch those two trying to rescue their friends."

Mittens smiled, deep in thought. "Yes, perhaps..." The two cats left the room. The Rescue Rangers looked at each other through their jelly jars on the floor, then, almost immediately, they all started talking. No one could understand what anyone else was saying, though; the echoes inside the glass jars were too loud. Soon, all the Rangers stopped speaking.

Chip took charge and shouted, "How are we going to get out of here?" His own call answered itself in the jelly jar prison, but the other Rangers managed to decipher what he was saying.

Dale shrugged. Standing, Monty yelled, "We're gonna break these bloomin' jars!" Without hesitating, he got a running start and threw his shoulder, with the full pressure of all his weight, against the wall of the jar. The jar tipped easily, but didn't break.

"Unscrew the lid," squeaked Zipper, but no one could hear him. Chip independently came up with the same idea and offered it.

Monty tried to remove the lid, but couldn't get a grip on either the floor or the top of the lid. He couldn't even fit a finger through the lid's miniscule air holes, so he had no leverage whatsoever.

"It's no use," sighted Monty, leaning back against the wall of the jar. This set the container rolling. He hit Dale's jar, which fell, then started rolling as well. Dale stuck to the sugary walls of his jar as he rolled and, when the two jars came to a stop against a wall, he was upside-down, stuck to the top side of the glass container. It was several seconds before he fell down to the bottom.

"Dale! Take the lid off your jar!" Monty, Chip, and Zipper all shouted. Dale peeled himself off the floor of his jar and tried to unscrew the lid from the inside. His sticky paws adhered to the sticky lid and after about a minute, the lid was off.

Dale immediately went to help his friends, and none of the Rangers saw Fat Cat's elevator door open. Suddenly, Dale found himself in Mittens's claws.

"Trying to escape?" she asked, grinning cruelly at Dale.

Monty rolled the jelly jar he was in at Mittens, who easily dodged him. Then, putting Dale into her mouth, she picked Monterey's jar up with both paws and placed it in a cardboard box. She walked back over to Chip and Zipper, then grimaced, and spit Dale out with disgust.

"I hate grape jelly!" she cried.

Chip and Zipper, who could see the proceedings, told Dale to run. Dale refused to leave his friends, though, and looked around for a way to rescue them.

Mittens glared at the chipmunk, then chased him around Fat Cat's office. She didn't catch him, though, and Dale climbed onto Fat Cat's desk. He found a sharp letter opener and picked it up, ready to attack Mittens. The cat narrowed her eyes at Dale and picked him up, taking the weapon from him, and speaking angrily.

"Perhaps you do not understand my intentions," she hissed. She pressed the button near the door the Rangers had entered. The door opened, and Mittens threw Dale through it. Dale screamed on his way down the stairs, and landed outside Fat Cat's office.

Chip was confused; his expression clearly showed that. Why would she let one of the Rangers escape? Mittens smiled, then put her face against Chip's jar sweetly. "He'll do more to hinder your friend than help her, I believe. But you don't need to be telling anyone about this." She set his jar in the box next to Monterey Jack's, and then placed Zipper's there as well. She kept a watchful eye on the box and, though none of the Rangers could see this from their box, she reclined in Fat Cat's chair behind his desk, filing her claws with his letter-opener and smiling to herself.


	5. A Gang

Doubt of a Shadow Chapter 5: A Gang

Doubt of a Shadow

A Rescue Rangers Fanfic

**Chapter 5 (of 8): A Gang**

"But what if Mittens is back at the tree?" Shadow asked. Gadget had just announced her plans to go back to headquarters and get a vehicle, and maybe some weapons, so they'd have a chance against Fat Cat.

"I don't have time to make a whole new vehicle. That could take a couple hours, if I didn't have the proper supplies."

As they walked down the sidewalk towards the park, Shadow retreated. "Well, can't you just make a car out of a rubber band and a popsicle stick or something?"

Gadget smiled. "You act like that's easy."

"For you, it is." Shadow's tone was one of admiration.

Gadget smiled modestly, blushing a little. "I wouldn't go that far..."

They walked on for a little while. Looking ahead, Shadow said, "Oh, you don't want to go this way. I know a shortcut to the park."

"I think I know the way to my own house," Gadget said, cheerily, but with an almost indetectable note of suspicion underlying her statement.

"I know, but this isn't the best neighborhood to be--"

"Then you go on and take your shortcut, but I'm going this way."

Shadow sighed, and looked at the ground. As they continued walking, the area around them quickly changed from a well-kept commercial district to a run down housing development. Half of the buildings were boarded up, and the rest looked like they should be. Even the sidewalk beneath them was cracked, and a few human beggars were sleeping on it. After they travelled a few more feet in the slum, Shadow started to glance around him to both sides, especially the left.

"Is anything wrong?" Gadget asked.

Shadow shook his head a couple times, not taking his eyes off the sides of the sidewalk. Gadget looked ahead too, and saw several mice leaning against a building. Some of them looked sick, and all of them were wearing tattered clothes. One of the mice even had two children, who were trying to amuse each other by making funny faces. Gadget instantly pitied all of them, and didn't notice when one of the mice, one wearing a sad piece of brown cloth like a hood to cover himself, glared at Shadow.

It seemed like all the poor mice spoke at once. "Do you have any change?" they all asked.

"G--golly..." Gadget tried to back away from them. Though she, in fact, didn't have any change--what mouse would want to carry around bulky nickels and dimes?--she still hated to say no.

"Gosh, I mean, I don't really--well--"

"We don't carry any," Shadow interrupted, glaring at the beggars. He turned away from them proudly and walked away. Gadget stared at him for a moment before following.

"I wish we could help them," Gadget sighed.

Shadow almost laughed, looking straight ahead. "Help them? Yeah, they need help all right--Gadget, what use do starving mice have for money?"

Gadget blinked, surprised. "I--"

"None! Unless you actually leave money to pay for the groceries you steal from the store, and even you don't do that!"

Gadget remained silent, but nodded. She asked, "Then why do they want money?"

Shadow shrugged. "They're just greedy, I guess."

"Are we?" A mouse with brown fur and silvery sunglasses jumped out from behind a stray soda can ahead on the sidewalk. Gadget recognized the red sleeves of his shirt as the same ones that had poked out slightly from under one of the beggar mice's cloaks. The clothes he now revealed were nicer, and almost clean. He spoke angrily: "You want money too! You're no better than us, Shadow, no matter what you think. Just 'cause you're too stuck up to beg, and too scared to shake mice down--"

"Shut up, Lawless!" Shadow shouted loudly.

"And now you're even too scared to rob people's houses. Oh, what are you to do?" The mouse feigned sympathy, smiling from behind his shiny sunglasses. He raised the glasses and eyed Gadget. "Hey, what's with the girl? Like her so much you gave her your jacket?"

Shadow trembled with rage. "No!"

"You never let me wear it..."

"It'd get dirty from just touching you."

Lawless narrowed his eyes, and looked at Gadget. "Hey, honey, you might wanna take that jacket off--it'll give you fleas." Gadget turned her body away from the mouse, who suddenly grabbed the sleeve of the jacket. "Here, I'll help you get it off."

He pulled at the jacket strongly, until Shadow suddenly cuffed Lawless across the face, throwing the mouse back several inches. Lawless glared at Shadow, rubbing his bruised cheek.

"Didn't your mom ever tell you not to hit a guy with glasses?" he asked, motioning at his flashy eyewear. Sarcastically, he went on, "Oh, that's right. You don't have a mom, do you? Well, of course, you did, but she doesn't want you."

"Neither does yours!" Gadget noted the hurt in Shadow's voice, though his face and body showed only anger.

"Sure she does," Lawless said calmly. "Unlike the rest of you guys, I ran away from my parents because I got sick of them--not the other way around. I chose my freedom. And that what makes me different. That's why I'm the leader--"

"You're lower than any of us, to leave someone who actually cared about you!" Shadow suddenly pounced on Lawless, who threw his sunglasses aside, then gleefully joined the fight.

"Shadow!" shouted Gadget. She stepped near to the fight, trying to intervene, but was soon stopped short. A poor mouse about her size, but wiry, was firmly holding her shoulders.

"What are you tryin' to do, lady? There's a fight going on!" Gadget struggled a little, but obviously, fights were these mice's only form of entertainment, and they wouldn't let her interfere. She had no choice but to watch the brawl, although she was still horrified by it.

Lawless liked to taunt and torment others until they were finally angry enough to throw a punch at him. He was still level-headed, playing the defensive (his strong point) while his opponent was blinded by rage, and, nine times out of ten, Lawless had an easy win, a quick way to show those around him his strength. It was the tenth time that was a problem--when his would-be victim didn't really like to fight, so he fought harder and better when outraged. Shadow was one of these types and, very soon into the brawl, Lawless realized he had made a mistake in picking a fight with him. After a few hits, Shadow had Lawless pinned to the wall.

"Let me go!" Lawless cried, sounding more scared than authoritative. "I'm sorry for what I said--I'm not any better than you--"

Shadow stepped back from Lawless, disgusted. "You're only brave when you're winning a fight," he said angrily.

"Then now I'm gonna be brave!" Lawless cried. He whipped out a knife (made out of an Exact-o blade) and slashed at Shadow. Shadow cried out in surprise and jumped behind Gadget (whose captor had let her go as soon as the knife came out). Gadget was now practically frozen with fear, having never seen a knife being used this way before.

"Don't worry, honey, I'm not after you," Lawless smiled, picking up his glasses again. "The jacket, yes, and your 'friend,' but I won't kill you."

Gadget stepped back about half a step--the farthest she could get without knocking down Shadow, who seemed to want to stand his ground. Shadow glared at Lawless, then, in a lightning-fast move, he reached into the pocket of his jacket that Gadget was wearing, whipped out the fragment of mirror Gadget had cut herself on earlier, and jumped at Lawless. Gadget gasped, scared for Shadow, but, after less than twenty seconds, Lawless was quite literally pinned to a wooden crate, his shirt collar held to it with the piece of mirror. He was up high enough that his feet dangled helplessly, and he looked rather silly. Shadow slyly handed Lawless the sunglasses he had discarded. The brown mouse put them on, but they did nothing to make him look cool.

Gadget heard laughter all around her. She looked around and saw a couple dozen mice and other rodents, all dirty and poorly dressed. A few of them looked sorry for Lawless, or shook their heads sadly, but most were laughing at, or even mocking, the mouse.

"Hey, way to go, Shadow!" One of the mice slapped him on the back. "'Bout time someone put him in his place!"

"You're gonna wish you hadn't done that!" Lawless shouted, still helpless. The mice all laughed at him. "Shut up!" Lawless cried, almost desperately. The mice continued laughing. Above the din, Lawless shouted, "Shadow, I'm gonna get you!"

Shadow shrugged, smiling. "Go for it." Turning to Gadget, he said, "Come on--let's get out of here." They didn't get too far before the dense crowd prevented them from going further.

"Hey, man, maybe you oughtta lead us now!" a female mouse smiled. The rest of the crowd cried out in uncreative shouts of affirmation.

Shadow blushed a little, smiling. He looked down, then up again at the cheerful crowd. His eyes widened, and he suddenly frowned--almost scowled. "What do you guys care?" he asked. "Just because I beat up someone you guys were sick of! None of you guys cared before I did that! Honestly--how many of you even know my name?" He started to walk away, and none of the mice blocked his way now. Shadow looked over at the gutter, the area under the sidewalk and the street, accessible only through a dirty grate. The only home so many other poor mice had. It wasn't his home now, though. Having no home at all would be better than living there.

Shadow turned back to the other mice, feeling like he had to vent his frustration. "Do something with your lives!" he cried. "Help someone! Read a book! Make a friend! Find a real home. Or a family. Anything..." He spun around and walked off. Gadget scurried after him. She glanced at Shadow several times, but he looked straight ahead, silently.

Gadget finally spoke. "Golly, I guess we should've taken a different way home..."

"You're just lucky you didn't get your throat slit or something--they'd do that for fun."

"I don't see why they'd--"

"Their lives are pretty miserable. They get their kicks in weird ways..."

"AAAAAAHH! Someone! HELP!" A high-pitched voice cried out from the area where the poor gutter mice were still gathered.

Gadget turned around to go back, but Shadow grabbed her arm. "What are you doing?"

"Whoever that is is in trouble," Gadget replied. "I can't let him get hurt."

"You can't help everyone," Shadow said sullenly. But Gadget was already on her way through the crowd.

"Dale!" she exclaimed, seeing the gutter mice's victim. He looked a little beat up; the mice had been throwing pebbles at him. Gadget ran to the chipmunk and hugged him. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Hey, you're one of those 'Rescue Rangers,' too!" a mouse shouted out. She launched a stone at Gadget, hitting her victim right over her left eye. Gadget looked to see where the rock had been launched from and saw Shadow punch the mouse out cold. Another mouse started a fight with Shadow. Gadget cringed and glanced away; she hated violence. She saw Dale scampering off, away from her, Shadow, and the other mice, and followed him curiously.

"Dale, where are you going?" Gadget asked when they were away from the crowd.

"I'm gettin' away before those crazy mice kill me!" he exclaimed. "Come on." He pulled on Gadget's arm, but she stood still.

"What about Shadow?" she asked.

"You mean that mouse fighting?" Dale's voice was overflowing with disgust.

"He's my friend," Gadget said.

"Gadget, he's one of Fat Cat's helpers!"

"He promised me he'd help me rescue you guys!"

"I don't want his help! He'll just turn us in!"

"Fine." Gadget and Dale looked over and saw Shadow right beside them. He had a bleeding scratch on his face and a mark from a bite on his left ear. Both wounds would heal though, and he was otherwise unharmed from his fights. "If you don't want me, I'll leave." He turned around and walked off towards the gutter.

"Shadow, wait!" Gadget shouted. He looked back. "Don't go..."

"I'm not working with him!" Dale cried. Glancing at Gadget, almost smugly, the chipmunk said, "You can choose, either him or me."

"Dale! He's been helping me..." The chipmunk folded his arms childishly and turned away. Gadget sighed, and turned to the mouse. "Shadow, I--"

"I know." Shadow turned and walked off again.

"Shadow, wait." He stopped but didn't turn around. Gadget slipped out of the black coat. "Your jacket."

"Keep it." The pain in Shadow's voice was audible.

Gadget shook her head, walking over to him. "I know how much it means to you." She placed it in his paws.

Shadow didn't move for a while, then suddenly thrust his fists into the sleeves of the jacket. "Fine," he said angrily. "It was only a symbol of how we'd get your friends back. But I guess now that you've got Dale, you don't need me. That dimwitted chipmunk's certainly going to be a lot more help than I would be." He jammed his fists into his pockets and walked off.

"Shadow!" Gadget cried. This time, the mouse didn't even break his stride.

Dale was glad to see the mouse gone. "Why were you wearing his jacket?" he asked.

Gadget didn't answer. She cast one last look at the gutter and the poor creatures who lived there, then walked the other way, towards the park, with Dale close behind her.

Shadow never cried. Not since he had been three years old. That was his first memory. Being wrapped in a black jacket much too big for a three-year-old mouse. Left on the steps of the house of a widow who already had nine children of her own. And he had been bawling. He had known, even then, that he was alone, and that no one cared about him. The widow had practically made him her slave, and no one else in his life had wanted him for anything other than using him, either. That's why he kept running away, and had found himself alone on the streets forever at the age of eight.

He climbed the rope ladder down to the floor of the gutter--to his home, the cold, wet home he probably deserved. The world the mice had made for themselves could be washed away by a heavy rain, as most of the beds and meager personal items belonging to the mice were arranged on a sidewalk a few inches above the water that was always in the gutter, whether it was raining or not. The whole place was musty-smelling and damp--it had rained the night before. It was a wonder more mice hadn't died of disease down there. At least there were some areas that remained dry all the time. The gutter had two of what were almost like stone shelves on the walls, on the far side of the entrance. These stayed dry even when it rained; the water that came in through the grating and onto the other wall, the wall by the grating entrance. Only a record-breaking flood would dampen the shelves. The whole gutter, dry areas and not, was nearly deserted, due to the recent excitement outside. Maybe Lawless was still hanging up there; Shadow hadn't even checked. A good deal of the rodents were nocturnal, yet only a few were sleeping right now. Shadow climbed the almost sturdy ladder made of toothpicks and glue to the lower of the two above-ground platforms and went over to a particular spot against the wall. His spot, even though it was bare. This and his jacket were the only things he owned. That's all he deserved to own... At least he had earned his dry spot, through territorial fights. As he reached it, though, he saw a small mouse sleeping there. The mouse woke up and looked at Shadow, terrified.

"Gosh, I'm s--s--sorry! Please don't hurt me!" The mouse coughed, then sniffed. "I'm leaving--"

"Don't worry about it," shrugged Shadow. "Keep it." Shadow cynically noted that the sick mouse would be dead in a day, likely as not, and that someone else would take the spot from him, even if he lived. Silently, he walked over to the edge of the platform and sat down, dangling his legs over the edge.

This moldy, almost empty home was the only one he was worthy of. What had made him think he could do better than stealing for a living? What was the big deal about stealing, anyway? All mice had to do it, just to eat. That's why he was so desperate for money, so he wouldn't have to steal. But now Fat Cat had reneged on the deal. Not that he was surprised; he had been lied to too many times to keep track of. No one liked him and he didn't like anyone. He had thought that, somehow, Gadget was different. But of course she could find no redeeming traits in him; he was nothing more than a dirty mouse who lived in the gutter... Fiercely, he wiped his eyes. What was he doing? Self-pity accomplished nothing except eating up tissues--provided you were rich enough to afford them, which he wasn't. Crying would just get his sleeves wet, then, which he didn't need to do. Of course Gadget would prefer her loyal teammate over a common thief!

Shadow fiercely kicked the platform where he sat with his heel, ignoring the resulting pain that shot up his leg. What was he thinking? He had never deserved any friends--why start now?

He looked wearily around the dismal surroundings. He was so sick of this place, even without all the pathetic thieves he loathed milling about around him.

"Hey, Shadow." Samantha, the chipmunk he had bribed, climbed onto the shelf and sat down next to him.

Shadow edged away. "I can't pay you--he's not paying me!"

"Oh, really?" Samantha asked curiously. "That's funny--Fat Cat paid me once I explained to him how I had helped." For effect, she drew out a few gold pieces. Shadow ignored her comment on the outside, but he was really curious--why had Fat Cat paid Samantha but decided to eat the one who had made Samantha do the work? Samantha reached into the top of her dress and pulled a piece of paper out. Handing it to Shadow, she said, "That black cat wanted me to give this to you."

Shadow took the note but waited until Samantha had left to look at it. He turned visibly paler as he read the single sentence on the piece of paper.

'Dale's leading her into a trap.'

He knew they didn't want his help, but he hurled that thought as far away from him as he could. Quickly, he climbed down the toothpick ladder to the gutter floor, then up the rope ladder to the surface. He looked both ways before exiting the gutter, more wary of the other rodents than a bicyclist or motorist who might be travelling too close to the sidewalk. He hurried out of the gutter and noticed that, though Lawless was gone, most of the mice were still outside, talking. Shadow easily snuck past them and set off in a run towards the park.


	6. A Revelation

Doubt of a Shadow Chapter 6: A Revelation

Doubt of a Shadow

A Rescue Rangers Fanfic

**Chapter 6 (of 8): A Revelation**

Shadow climbed up the tallest oak tree in the park to Rescue Ranger Headquarters, not bothering to use the stairs. He was nearly blind with fright, but was also fairly athletic, having had to fight to survive most of his life. When he got up to the smoothed-out branch which served as a landing strip for Gadget's planes, he saw the Ranger Plane was missing, gone from its spot in the doorway where he had crashed it just a few hours ago. The door had been taken off one hinge, but other than that his crash had done little damage.

Shadow hurried into Ranger Headquarters, hoping that somehow Gadget was still inside, but she wasn't in the main room.

"Gadget!" he shouted, then ran inside, madly opening every door he could find and looking in, not really expecting to find her. Finally, he shook his head and sunk into a teacup chair, letting himself realize that she was really gone. In fact, by now, Fat Cat had probably eaten her.

Shadow opened his eyes widely, realizing he was crying again. 'Why?' he wondered. 'It's not like she even knew me! And if she would've just listened to me, she'd be okay now!'

Suddenly Shadow's mind involuntarily jumped back in time. He was several years younger, and more outgoing. He had already made a set of friends and lost them once, but had dared to try it again. This time, his companion was a mouse two years younger than him, named Reynolds. He was a rather cute little mouse, with white-yellow fur and a black tail tip. He always wore old clothes several sizes too big, but he was so endearing and cheerful, he looked cute instead of pitiful. Reynolds and Shadow were thieves of sorts, but no more than any other mice were. They lived together in a hidden mousehole in an upper-class condo. They were both pretty well-off and content; Shadow protected Reynolds, and Reynolds reminded Shadow that life wasn't always meant to be taken seriously. To this day, Shadow couldn't really remember how they had met; he was pretty sure they had just struck up a conversation one day in the street, and had stuck together ever since.

Their life had been comfortable, almost charmed, until the day the tenants of their condo had adopted a cat to deal with their rodent infestation. Shadow and Reynolds gathered their things to find a new home, and had made it out the door, but Reynolds had realized he had somehow forgotten his prized possession, the picture he had of his mother. (At least, Reynolds was convinced it was his mother, though he didn't remember her, and Shadow couldn't bring himself to suggest that it could be of any female mouse.) Shadow had gone back in with Reynolds, but the cat noticed them, and caught Reynolds, the weaker of the two mice. Reynolds had cried out for help, but Shadow hid under the couch, and wouldn't risk coming out. He listened to Reynolds's screams as the cat played with him for what seemed like days, until, finally, the screams stopped. Shadow sprinted out of the condo, escaping the cat's notice, and took his and Reynolds's meager possessions. He pawned everything his friend had owned, trying to erase the memory of Reynolds's death and his own cowardice. It didn't work, and every time Shadow saw a picture of a mouse that resembled the picture of Reynolds's mother, he felt a complete self-loathing that didn't leave him for days. Now that Gadget was dead, he knew that any time he saw an orange-haired mouse, or anyone wearing lavender, he'd feel the same way.

After a couple minutes, Shadow got up, unsure of what he was going to do with himself. He couldn't--wouldn't--go back to living in the gutter, and suddenly knew that leaving the country wouldn't solve anything, either. He laughed bitterly to himself, the idea of taking over for the Rescue Rangers coming to mind.

"Right," he mumbled. "Murder them and take over their business..." He paused, suddenly feeling more depraved and evil than he ever had before.

"Well, if I already killed them, nothing else I could do would be any worse. If I'm just a thief, I might as well..."

Suddenly, Shadow rushed into the kitchen and rummaged through the drawers, looking for the Rangers' silverware. He finally found their utensils--mere trifles carved from wood, except for the knives, which did have metal blades--and shoved them in his pocket. Then he ran towards the bedrooms and wildly rushed into a room. He stopped cold in his tracks, finding himself in Chip and Dale's room.

There was a comic book laid on the floor, illuminated by the bright afternoon sunlight coming in from the window. The cover featured a tough-looking man, dressed all in black, helping a surprised yellow-orange haired lady in a purple evening gown out of a grave. To top that off, it featured the caption, "Rest in Peace?". Shadow wasn't superstitious, but that had to be the most obvious sign that had ever been seen in the entire history of rodent-kind. Either that, or the world's biggest coincidence.

If Gadget was still alive...and if he didn't do anything to help... Shadow shuddered. He would never let what happened to Reynolds happen again. NEVER. Shadow ran out of Chip and Dale's room and madly searched for vehicles, but remembered that the Ranger Wing was being repaired, and that he and Gadget had lost the only car in the garage. Finally, he just ran down the tree, out of the park, and onto the sidewalk near the street. He whipped out a strange bundle from his jacket; two items made from wires, a bit of wood, some yarn, and a few beads. He strapped one to each foot; they were makeshift inline skates. He then got out a rope with a safety pin attached to the end and threw it at the bumper of the first car he saw going towards Fat Cat's hideout. Shadow was quickly jerked off the sidewalk and onto the street. He almost lost his balance, but kept his footing, and was dragged down the street on his skates at 35 miles per hour. This didn't bother him; Shadow was almost used to the sick, giddy feeling he got from risking his life like this, and was so worried, he hardly even noticed. What did bother him was that he'd probably have to change cars a couple times before reaching his destination. Usually when he pulled this stunt, Shadow was just fleeing from someone; after a few blocks, he would be safe, and could find leave his rope and find his way back home. To actually try to get somewhere by hitching rides on moving vehicles like this was a bit suicidal, not to mention nearly impossible. Still, Shadow was determined to get to Fat Cat's hideout and rescue Gadget.

Fortunately, Shadow only had to change cars once to reach the Happy Tom Cat Food Cannery. The one change was very risky, and he was nearly run over, but Shadow made it. Once Shadow safely reached the sidewalk, he quickly took off his skates, shoved them in his pocket, and jumped in a cat-sized elevator tucked inside a vent to get up to the roof of the factory.

Right as he came out of the elevator, Shadow saw Gadget and Dale, in the Ranger Plane, heading towards the head of the huge cat figure. Dale held a harpoon gun, and Gadget looked determined as she piloted the craft.

"Gadget, it's a trap!" shouted Shadow as loudly as he dared, which was just a little above a whisper. Shadow was fairly sure he saw Gadget's ears perk back, as if she had heard him, but she continued flying. Shadow sighed, then ran after them.

"Please!" he said, a bit louder.

The Ranger Plane hovered near one of the eye-windows of the giant cat figure. Gadget glanced down at Shadow for less than a second, then nodded at Dale, who stood up and readied one of Gadget's suction-cup harpoon guns.

"Okay," Gadget whispered. "Make sure you get your aim right; we can only do this once. Okay...now!" Dale shot his harpoon gun a split-second before Gadget shot one of the Ranger Plane's suction-cup legs, then the other. Shadow faintly heard the cups strike something smooth, then saw the Ranger Plane pull backwards, with Dale bracing himself strongly, and straining to keep a hold on the harpoon. Shadow suddenly guessed what they were doing--trying to rescue the others by taking the jars which they were trapped inside. Suddenly, the Ranger Plane was jerked towards the window, along with the two rescuers inside it. The plane struggled, but was pulled through the window, losing its balloon on the way.

Shadow only watched angrily. He had told Gadget it was a trap! But...her friends were important to her. Important enough to make her go, knowingly, into a dangerous situation where she probably wouldn't succeed. And Shadow knew he had to do the same for her.

He quickly threw his rope with the safety pin attached at the same eye-window the plane had gone through, and climbed up. He then peeped through the window, his paws gripping the windowsill and his body still outside. He had no choice but to wait for a good chance to rescue Gadget.

Inside, Mittens picked up the Ranger Plane, which had been overturned during the rescue attempt. Dale was already back in his jar, having been tossed out of the plane when it came inside, but Gadget was still belted into the plane, and most of the plane's weight seemed to have fallen on her. At any rate, her eyes were closed.

Shadow gasped. What if--

"She's not dead, is she?" Fat Cat asked, walking into his office from his elevator.

Mittens looked a little surprised, but answered, "No, dear."

"Good," smiled Fat Cat. "Mice are like lobsters--they should stay alive until right before they are eaten."

Mittens smiled, then handed Fat Cat a can of caviar and some crackers. "Appetizer?"

"Thank you love," Fat Cat said, sitting at his desk and eating his snack daintily, without even offering Mittens any. "Put the mouse away, would you?"

Mittens went over to Fat Cat, stroking his head, and leaving the unconscious mouse on the floor. "Oh, she's not going anywhere; just relax and eat, my dear."

By now, Shadow had snuck into the office, and was now hiding behind a leg of the desk. He suddenly ran over and picked Gadget up by the arms, then dragged her into the elevator.

"Shadow!" Fat Cat yelled, and ran after the mice. Shadow quickly hit the down button on the elevator and held his breath. The doors closed just as Fat Cat reached them, causing the feline to hit his head on the door.

"Oh..." Fat Cat said dizzily.

"It's all right, love," Mittens said, rushing over to him and laying him down. "Just rest," she smiled, "and you'll be fine."

Fat Cat closed his eyes, and Mittens used his intercom to send a message downstairs.

Downstairs, Fat Cat's Casino had slot machines, roulette wheels, and card tables, all scaled to animal size. It wasn't the classiest of establishments, but Shadow still drew quite a bit of attention, dragging an unconscious mouse with him through the casino.

"What are you doing?" a rat asked him.

"She...uh...had too much cheese sauce," Shadow lied. He knew that soon, Fat Cat and Mittens would be after them, so he looked for a good hiding place. Finally, he ducked under a round, clothed table, taking Gadget with him.

"Gadget?" he whispered, figuring that they might be able to run for it if she would wake up. Though she was breathing, she was also unconscious, and didn't seem like she'd be waking up any time soon. Shadow sighed.

"Okay, everyone!" an unfamiliar, commanding voice shouted. "Everyone look around for a couple mice. One of 'em's a girl in a purple jumpsuit, and the other's wearin' a black jacket. Whoever finds 'em gets a hundred bucks worth of chips!" Shadow heard lots of movement, and knew it wouldn't be long before the animals searched under the table. Finally, he dragged Gadget out, trying to sneak as best he could, hiding behind slot machines whenever he got the chance. There were too many animals around, though; he soon realized they would never escape. Suddenly, Shadow noticed a fairly large slot machine, almost big enough for a human casino, or at least for a novelty in a living room, with its back panel hanging open, just a crack. He pulled the panel off all the way and saw that there was some space inside the machine, plenty of room to fit one mouse. He carefully lifted Gadget and set her inside, then snapped the panel shut, knowing Gadget was smart enough to figure out a way to escape, and maybe even a way to rescue her friends, as well.

"There's one of 'em!" a rat suddenly shouted. Shadow sprinted away, but, within seconds, was caught by the collar by a yellow cat's claws. Shadow struggled, even trying to slip out of his jacket, but couldn't escape.

"Take him up to the office," a dark gray cat wearing a blue shirt, and with white spots on his paws, said. Shadow recognized his voice from before; that was the cat who had started the search. The gray cat continued searching, while the yellow cat went up the elevator giddily, holding Shadow tightly in both his paws.

Shadow saw that there was something different about Fat Cat's office. In a moment, he figured out what it was--Fat Cat was hogtied and asleep on the floor near the elevator. Mittens was sitting at the desk, but got up to greet the cat when he entered.

"You have one of them!" she said, taking Shadow from him.

"Yeah." The yellow cat looked very uncomfortable. After a moment, he pointed at Fat Cat. "Uh...is...is that..."

Mittens went back to the desk, opened a drawer, and counted out quite a few chips. She handed them to the yellow cat.

"For 200, it's not," she smiled.

The other cat was still a bit confused, but nodded, and turned to leave.

"Oh, make sure they catch the other mouse, too, please? Thank you."

The yellow cat left, and Mittens put Shadow in another jelly jar on the desk. Suddenly, Fat Cat groaned and started to stir. Mittens sighed, then walked over to him, with a false smile on her face.

"...I feel very poorly," Fat Cat mumbled.

"Oh, dear, it must have been that awful caviar I gave you. Such low quality..." She dropped the grin and looked angry. "It was supposed to kill you."

Fat Cat gasped, suddenly alert. "What? Mittens, my love--"

Mittens pushed Fat Cat (or, technically, rolled him) into a closet. "Love, you're a fool. This casino has made you quite rich enough. The way you let the animals trade fish, cheese, gold, whatever they have, for chips which are bound to earn them seven for each ten spent--pure genius! But you've no need for a life of crime as well. I pretended to like you to get a stake in this casino, but, well, you've been so domineering! I can tell you would never make me a partner, so I must take over instead. I couldn't bear to see another feline's blood, Fat Cat, but I'm sure I'll find a hit man to get rid of you." She tied a gag around Fat Cat's mouth, then closed the closet. "Goodbye."

The dark gray cat Shadow saw before entered the office. "Mittens!"

The black cat looked over. "Hmm?"

The other cat shook his head. "I'm sorry, but we've searched everywhere, and haven't found Gadget. She must have escaped."

"Very well," frowned Mittens. "I have an appointment. I'll just have to take the ones I have. I'm sure she'll find her way to the meeting place. Thank you, Socks."

The other cat nodded. "Aren't you glad I introduced you to the boss, sis?"

Mittens smiled, and walked over to her desk, taking out a shiny object and handing it to Socks. "I think you should be the glad one."

Socks looked at the gold badge, then proudly clipped it to his shirt. "Really?" he asked, awed.

"Head security guard of Mittens's Casino. I promised, didn't I?"

"Aw, Mittens, you're the best!"

"Just keep the peace down there, okay? And if you see Gadget, bring her to me. Otherwise, I'll be back soon."

Socks nodded, then went back down the elevator. Mittens transferred the mice, chipmunks, and fly into her purse (which was the size of a human's purse), then left the office as well.


	7. A Disguise

Doubt of a Shadow Chapter 7: A Disguise

Doubt of a Shadow

A Rescue Rangers Fanfic

**Chapter 7 (of 8): A Disguise**

Gadget woke up with an awful headache. She was in a dark and (upon inspection) very small space. She heard lots of clicks, clacks, and jingles, along with the noise of animals talking, but couldn't remember where she had heard those noises before.

"All right, guys," she heard an authoritative voice say, "we think the one in the purple jumpsuit probably got away. It's no problem. But if you see her, bring her to me, okay?"

Gadget gasped, suddenly realizing she was in a casino, and the odds were ten-to-one it was Fat Cat's. And there were animals in there looking for her!

"If I get out, they'll catch me," noted Gadget quietly. "But the others are trapped! I have to save them!" Frustrated, she rested her paw against the wall of the slot machine. She drew it back when she realized it was slimy. Gadget rubbed her fingers together.

"Golly, that's grease!" she cried, surprised. Suddenly inspired, she rubbed her paw clean on her face, then rolled up her pantlegs above the knees. She ripped off every piece of her overalls that was above her waist, leaving her with a white t-shirt underneath. She took off the magenta piece of ribbon that served as her belt and tied her hair back in a makeshift bun, goggles and all. She tucked in the jagged fabric edges near her waist, so her outfit looked neat. Finally, Gadget smeared grease from the slot machine's interior all over every exposed area of her fur, changing its color from peach to brown. She inhaled deeply, hoping this would fool whoever was looking for her, and pushed on the panel of the slot machine, which was made up of the only wall with no machinery attached to it.

It didn't move.

Gadget pushed several more times, harder each time, but it wouldn't open. Gadget sighed, realizing the only way she'd get out was if someone opened the machine from the outside. Gadget suddenly turned towards the gears and things that made up the inside workings of the machine and played with them, being careful not to pinch her fingers. She was done in a few seconds. Soon, she heard a coin being dropped into the machine and felt the lever being pulled, though it didn't get very far before it stuck. Whoever was outside kicked the machine a few times and said a few unkind words, and then everything was quiet again. Five minutes later, the panel was pried off the back of the slot machine. Gadget was immediately greeted by a large, mean looking, surprised rat.

"What are you doing in there?" the rat asked.

"I--I don't know," Gadget said truthfully. "But thank you for letting me out!"

The rat scowled. "Just get outta there, all right?" he yelled. Gadget gladly exited the machine, but was quickly stopped by a dark gray cat with white paws.

"Hey, mousie, what's your name?" he asked.

"Keri," Gadget lied, trying not to sound nervous.

The cat glared at Gadget, then took out a photograph from his pocket. He looked at it, then looked at Gadget for a long time. Gadget held her breath all the while.

Socks finally nodded. "Okay, go spend some more dough, okay?"

"Thank you," Gadget said. She then snuck over to the elevator which led to Fat Cat's office and took it all the way up.

She was a little surprised to find the office deserted, with five empty jelly jars on the desk. She looked around, but the only clue she found was a playbill, which was sitting neatly on the desk. Gadget studied it; the location seemed familiar, as did the name Clarence Dudley, but she couldn't recall why.

Gadget heard a thumping in the room. She looked over and quickly deduced that the noise was coming from a closet. She went over, opened the door, and was surprised to discover Fat Cat inside, tied and gagged. He was trying to talk, and looked desperate, but Gadget couldn't understand him. Finally, she cautiously untied his gag, leaping away from his jaws the second she finished.

"Gadget!" Fat Cat cried. "You must untie me! Mittens is going to have me killed! She already took over my casino! Please!"

"Where'd she take the others?" Gadget asked, her tone commanding.

"I don't know! But--"

Gadget closed the closet door again; she knew she couldn't trust Fat Cat once he was free.

"No!" cried Fat Cat. "Please! I'm too handsome to die!"

Gadget ignored the cat's mad ravings as she turned the Ranger Plane right-side-up. The balloon was gone--the second one she had lost today--but the plane could still be flown. She pulled the foot suction cups off the jars they were still attached to, put the harpoon in the plane, and pondered the playbill. Finally, she just decided to go to the theater in question, and got into the Ranger Plane.

"Gadget, please!" Fat Cat pleaded. "I promise I'll never try to harm the Rescue Rangers again, if you just get me out!"

"I don't believe you," Gadget said. But before she left, she got on the desk again, and pressed the intercom's button. She shouted into the box, "Hey!"

After a second, the dark gray cat's voice answered, "Mittens?"

'That's right, Mittens took over!' Gadget remembered. 'The intercom must be of pretty poor quality if he thinks I'm her!' Aloud, and in her lowest, calmest, catlike voice, Gadget said, "Yes, Fat Cat's in the closet. Come let him go."

"What? Sis, I--"

"You heard me."

"A...all right..."

Gadget hopped back into the Ranger Plane, reeled in its feet, and managed to get it into the air and out the window, then flew off.


	8. A Friend

Doubt of a Shadow Chapter 8: A Friend

Doubt of a Shadow

A Rescue Rangers Fanfic

**Chapter 8 (of 8): A Friend**

"What did you do to Gadget?" Dale asked, taking Shadow's collar the second they were all in Mittens' purse. The other Rangers seemed as angry as Dale.

"I hid her," Shadow said quietly and calmly. "So they couldn't catch her, too."

"So you could turn her in later and make a profit," concluded Chip.

"No," said Shadow, forcing Dale's paws off his collar, then retreating to the farthest side of the human-sized handbag. "I swear, I just didn't want her to get hurt."

The others looked surprised and distrusting. Dale said, "But you--"

"Shut up," said Shadow quietly. "She's a great mouse. The world needs her, more than it needs me. More than it needs any of us, it needs her."

This silenced the Rangers. Deep down, all of them kind of felt that way about Gadget, just as she felt that way about each of them. But none of them would ever say it aloud.

Finally, Monty said, "We've gotta get outta this bloomin' purse!" He tried to gnaw through the leather, but made no progress at all.

Zipper buzzed, and Monty nodded. "If we just had somethin' sharp..."

Suddenly, a mouse-sized kitchen knife landed in front of his feet. Monty looked over and guessed that Shadow must have thrown it, although the gray mouse had his back turned to the Rangers, and was crouched down, still as far from them as possible.

"Hey," said Chip, picking the knife up. "This looks like ours!" The chipmunk rushed over to Shadow and searched his pockets, coming up with all the Rangers' eating utensils.

"Thief!" shouted Dale.

Chip asked, "Why'd you steal this?"

Shadow didn't look up. "I was trying to warn Gadget that she and Dale were headed for a trap, so I went to your headquarters. But she was gone. I got mad, and I felt betrayed, so I stole your silverware. Isn't that what people steal from their friends' houses when they're desperate?"

After a few awkward moments, Monterey laughed heartily and slapped Shadow on the back. "Crikey! Mate, people steal silverware because the stuff's valuable! Why, our wooden forks and spoons aren't worth any more than an empty mousetrap!"

Shadow looked further down, and blushed uncomfortably. The other Rangers didn't seem nearly as amused as Monty.

"You were helping Fat Cat, and now you stole our silverware! You should be thrown in jail!" Dale yelled.

Shadow turned away. "I'm not helping anyone now. I'm sorry I got you guys trapped. If Gadget gets out of this, I'll never bother you guys again."

Chip and Dale exchanged confused glances.

After a moment, Monty extended his paw to Shadow, still amused at his thievery. "My name's Monterey Jack."

"I know," Shadow said shortly. "I'm Shadow."

"Hey!" Zipper buzzed, then squeaked to Shadow. The squeaks were gibberish to the gray mouse, but he could tell from the tone that he had been asked a question.

"Well?" Monty asked.

"I couldn't understand him," Shadow said, sounding a bit annoyed.

"He asked if you were the mouse who saved Gadget that rainy day."

Shadow was silent for a while. "Yes," he finally said. Chip and Dale looked over, surprised, and a bit relieved. They were now unsure if they should like Shadow or hate him. One thing was for sure, though--Gadget's heroic rescuer was a lot younger than they had thought he would be!

Shadow glared at the chipmunks. "Look, I'd like to know if you guys find a way out of here, but until then, leave me alone, all right?"

In reality, Shadow's words weren't meant to be mean; he was mostly afraid to befriend the other Rangers, because if he knew the animals he had given to be killed had personalities and were actually nice, decent creatures, he'd hate himself even more than he already did. The others had no way of knowing this, though, and thought he was just being rude. Finally, Chip took the knife and tried to cut through the purse. Though the blade didn't bend much, it also didn't make any progress.

"What's this purse made of, reinforced steel?" he quipped, though no one was even slightly amused by the comment. Finally,Chip gave up, both on trying to stay cheerful, and on getting out through the body of the purse. "I guess we'll have to try to escape when we get where we're--"

Chip stopped as he felt the purse being set down. In a second, the zipper at the top opened, just a little. A clawed paw caught Shadow and drew him out before the Rangers had a chance to even try to escape. The purse was closed soon after, leaving the Rangers trapped, though they could hear the conversation outside.

Shadow looked around and found himself in a small closet with Mittens. The room was lit by an uncovered light bulb in the ceiling. The mouse looked down and sighed. "Okay, Mittens," he said, with his eyes closed, shoulders drooped, and voice trembling. "Get it over with."

Shadow heard a loud thud near him, and could almost feel the ground beside him move. He looked up, and saw a fairly small, but very heavy-looking bag next to him.

"What is that?" Shadow asked.

"Your gold," shrugged Mittens. "You did deliver four of the Rescue Rangers, and I don't think that should go unrewarded."

"But...Fat Cat..."

"No one trusts someone who lies all the time, and I would like to be trusted. I have no reason to kill you, Shadow. Take your gold and start a new life."

Shadow tried to lift the bag, but had a lot of trouble--he suspected he'd have to drag it out of the room. He paused.

"What about the others?"

"The Rescue Rangers? Well, they haven't wronged me directly, but...I don't suppose you've heard of the dramatic genius Sewernose de Bergerac?"

The Rangers inside the purse cringed, but Shadow shook his head.

"He's an alligator. A bit eccentric, but a performing genius who taught me all I know of acting. He grew up under this very theater, hearing the voices of humans so much, his very voice can be understood by them! Can you imagine the potential? What this could mean for animal performers as a whole?"

"Uh..no," Shadow said.

"The respect they'd earn, the fact that they might someday be treated as equals--"

"Oh."

"Anyway," Mittens continued, "I have great respect for the alligator. I would love to act with him, or even see him in a performance. But he has gone into a deep depression, since the Rescue Rangers forced him off the stage. So I've decided to deliver the Rescue Rangers to Sewernose, so that he may regain his self-esteem."

Shadow replied, "So he'll eat them?"

"I don't care what he does with them," Mittens answered. "I just wish for him to regain the confidence to go on stage again! Now, Shadow, it's been enjoyable talking with you, but I can't imagine that you'll want to be around to meet him."

"No," said Shadow. "I guess not." Shadow lugged the bag of gold out the door, which was open just a crack. He leaned the bag against the wall next to the door frame, then sat on it, trying to think of a plan to rescue the others. He had tried not to like them--in fact, he still wasn't too fond of them--but they were Gadget's friends, and he didn't want to see them (and, by extension, her) hurt.

"Shadow!" Shadow looked up and saw Gadget--sort of. The orange-haired mouse was wearing a white t-shirt, and a pair of pants that were half rolled up, plus she had some grease on her fur. Still, she was unmistakably Gadget; the harpoon gun in her hands would have assured him of that, no matter what she looked like.

"Gadget?" Shadow whispered, standing up.

"Did you find my friends?"

Shadow nodded, pointing at the door. "They're in there, in Mittens's purse. She's gonna give them to...Sewernose?"

"That's where I knew this building from!" Gadget exclaimed. "His home is underneath, in the storm drains!" She carefully peered through the doorway, taking in the situation. Finally, she turned to Shadow.

"I've got an idea. I'll distract Mittens, and you can free the others."

Shadow looked concerned. "What if she catches you?"

"Don't worry," Gadget said. "Just save my friends."

Shadow hesitated, then nodded uncomfortably. Gadget smiled at him.

"Okay, as soon as she goes after me, get the others out."

Shadow swallowed nervously, but readied himself, and watched Gadget.

The inventor walked into the small closet, aiming her harpoon gun. Mittens saw her almost instantly, and Gadget ran to a far corner of the room, so that Shadow could get in unnoticed, then shot her harpoon. The dart banked off each wall of the closet before striking Mittens on her still-bandaged nose. Meanwhile, Shadow pulled the purse down on its side and unzipped it, then hurriedly led the others out of the room.

Mittens took a few seconds to pull the suction cup from her nose. Gadget ran away, but tripped, her foot caught in the rope that was attached to the suction cup. Mittens caught the mouse and tied her with the string from the harpoon gun..

"I knew you'd come for them," Mittens smiled, still holding Gadget by the string. "And I knew you'd fail. Now there's nothing to do but wait."

Outside, Gadget's friends were very nervous.

"We can't let her give Gadget t' that nutty alligator!" said Monty, looking ready to storm into the room and take on Mittens singlehandedly. "We've gotta--"

"Hide!" Shadow whispered urgently, and he ducked behind a bucket near the door. To his surprise and amazement, the others listened, and followed him. They quickly saw what Shadow had seen--an alligator, wearing a black mask, a red coat, and wielding a sword. Chip realized the animal hadn't taken off the outfit he had been wearing the night he had substituted for Clarence Dudley in the opera. He was also wearing two hand puppets. He entered the closet, and, to the dismay of the concerned onlookers outside, closed the door.

"How can we get in now?" asked Dale, kicking the door in frustration.

"Not a problem," Chip said. "This almost worked another time! If we stand on each others' shoulders, we can reach the doorknob--"

"What are you talking about?" asked Shadow. "Look, we're all three or four inches tall, right? So, even if we stood on each other's heads, we'd only add up to about a foot! Even if we were twice as tall, we'd only make it about two feet, and I've never seen a human's doorknob that low in my life!"

The escaped Rangers exchanged confused looks.

"Wonder what that was all about," Monty mused.

Inside the closet, Sewernose smiled eagerly at Mittens. "You said you had a gift for me?"

"Yes," said Mittens, "I--"

"A gift?!" a feminine voice squeaked enthusiastically. Sewernose looked at the puppet on his right hand. When the Rangers had taken his opportunity to shine onstage, they had also robbed Sewernose of his two companions, Euripides and Voltaire. It had taken a while, but Sewernose had finally made some new friends, though he named them after fictional characters instead of actual playwrights, to show his disillusionment with the outside world. His first puppet, a woman with long red hair and a blue dress, continued. "A gift for the greatest actor ever?"

"Oh, dear Ophelia," Sewernose smiled. "You are so good to me."

"Which is more than you deserve!" cried the other puppet, who had wild blonde hair, and wore a tattered brown outfit. "This is the worst actor I have ever seen--"

"You dare to contradict the lady, Caliban?" Sewernose frowned, bringing his teeth near the puppet on his left hand.

"No, no, sir, it's just--"

Sewernose reprimanded the errant puppet with his tail, then turned to Ophelia.

"You are as brave as the heroes you play onstage!" she cried.

"Why thank you."

This show actually entertained Mittens, though Gadget spent the whole act just trying to wriggle out of her ropes. Finally, Sewernose gently set Ophelia down, and knocked Caliban off of his paw with his tail.

"Now, you say you had a gift for me?"

"A five-piece set," Mittens smiled, showing Gadget to Sewernose. "The vermin who ruined your excellent performance! I trust disposing of them shall prove a catharsis, and help you to overcome your acquired stage fright? The others are in my handbag."

Sewernose looked surprised, then eager. "Mittens! This is the finest gift one could give an actor! The critics shall be at my mercy!" He went over to the purse and looked inside. When he turned his face towards Mittens again, it looked very angry.

"You lied to me!" he noted.

"What?" Mittens asked, surprised.

"The purse is empty!"

"WHAT?" MIttens asked again. She glanced at Gadget. "You must have let them out!"

"I do not enjoy being lied to," Sewernose said, drawing nearer to Mittens. "But I shall have my meal, one way or another."

Mittens drew back, then quickly picked up Ophelia and put the puppet on her paw. In a high voice, she said, "Please don't hurt her! She is one of your biggest fans, as well as a student, dear Sewernose!"

The alligator drew back, then took both his puppets. "Very well, Mittens," he said. "For Ophelia's sake, I shall spare you. Though I do not believe I shall be making my comeback any time soon." He left the room and, before the rodents outside had a chance to sneak in, slammed the door. Sewernose muttered, "Perhaps I'll become a writer instead."

"Tell the world of your tragic story!" Ophelia exclaimed enthusiastically.

"No," Caliban argued. "It would probably only be made into a silly cartoon episode anyway."

The others were relieved that Gadget hadn't been eaten by the alligator; Zipper had watched the events through the keyhole. Their relief quickly left them, though, as they heard Mittens say, "I usually don't kill my own food, but after what you did to me, Gadget, I shall make an exception."

"How can we get in there?" Zipper asked, panicked. No one seemed to have any ideas.

Shadow looked around and saw a little girl, probably less than twelve, with brown hair and blue eyes, standing nearby. She was dressed in rags, and had a dirty face, though, upon closer inspection, the 'dirt' was really stage makeup. He suddenly realized the girl was an actress in the play the theater must be putting on. Remembering the nice people from the church, he got an idea.

"Quick, does anyone have a pencil?" he asked.

"I have a crayon," Dale said, reaching into his shirt. As soon as he saw the green stick, Shadow snatched it and wrote 'HELP!' in two-inch tall letters on the back of a script. He yelled loudly, trying to get the girl's attention, though his voice was nothing more than squeaks to her.

The young actress looked over, and gasped uncomfortably upon seeing a mouse. Fortunately, she also took the time to read the note. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Shadow wrote, "My friend's in there and a cat's going to eat her! Save her!" He then pointed wildly at the closet door, going so far as to jump up and down.

The girl looked surprised, but nodded, and opened the closet door. She went in and picked up Mittens by the scruff of her neck, as if she had experience with cats, then took an unharmed Gadget out of the cat's jaws. She set Gadget gently on the ground, where the other Rangers quickly hugged her and made sure she was all right.

"What should I do with the cat?" the girl asked. Mittens hissed at the girl, who was unfazed. "She's not nearly as nice as Spunky is."

Upon hearing the name 'Spunky,' the Rangers all looked at each other, but shrugged it off.

Shadow very nearly wrote "Kill her," but decided that wasn't a good thing to tell a little girl to do. He finally wrote, "Put her in a box, then take her to the pound after the show."

The girl nodded. "Why can you write?"

Shadow paused for a moment. He didn't want the whole world to know that animals were intelligent. "It's our secret," he finally wrote. "Don't tell anyone, OK?"

The girl pondered for a moment. "I guess you're just special," she answered. Shadow smiled and blushed.

"What's your name?" the girl continued. "I'm Mandy."

The Rangers looked surprised, and laughed, realizing that she was the girl who had come to the police looking for her cat, and thereby initiated one of their very first cases. Shadow just looked confused, then frowned, and wrote his name for Mandy.

The girl nodded. "You'll come visit me sometime, won't you, Shadow?"

Shadow looked up at the cheerful, expectant face of the girl, and found himself writing "Yes." After a second, he looked up at Mandy and wrote "Thank you."

The girl bent down and gently patted Shadow's head with her finger a couple times. The gray mouse didn't even mind.

"Mandy! We're about to start!" an insistent voice yelled, though the man who possessed the yell was nowhere to be seen.

"I gotta go," Mandy whispered to Shadow. She turned to go, then turned back and picked up the written-on script. Hugging it close to her, she said, "Bye!" and rushed off, holding both the script and Mittens.

Poor Shadow's face was a bright magenta by now, though he seemed almost happy in his embarrassment.

"Golly, Shadow, that was brilliant!" Gadget exclaimed. She rushed over to Shadow and hugged him. Shadow's face went from bright magenta to neon pink. He looked down as Gadget drew back.

"I didn't do anything. I just got you out of the mess I got you into."

"But y' proved whose side you were on!" said Monty. "How'd you know that little Sheila wasn't gonna make you her pet?"

Shadow shuddered. "But ...I had to help Gadget."

All the Rangers, even Chip and Dale, smiled at Shadow, who was made a bit uncomfortable by all this positive attention.

"Uh, I'd better be going," he said, his cheeks now cooled down to a dull pink color. He struggled to sling his heavy bag over his shoulder.

"You're gonna keep that?" asked Dale.

Shadow shrugged his free shoulder. "It's my money."

The others looked a bit surprised. Gadget looked back at her friends. "Guys, would you mind if I talked with Shadow for a little while?"

Chip and Zipper nodded, while Dale and Monty shook their heads.

Gadget asked, "Does that mean you do mind? Or that you don't mind? Because when someone asks if someone minds something, they can say yes to mean it's okay, or yes to mean it's not okay, so you might as well not ask at all, because--"

"Just go!" the other Rangers said in unison.

Shadow glanced at Gadget, then cautiously put his bag down, casting an almost suspicious look at the other Rangers. "Can you guys watch this for me?"

"Sure," Monty said.

Shadow looked at the bag one more time before following Gadget.

"Where are we going?" he asked once they were out of sight of the others.

"Someplace quiet," Gadget answered. "I just wanted to ask you a couple things."

"Oh."

Gadget stopped walking, and leaned against a dark backstage curtain. Shadow did the same, beside her.

"Why'd you take that gold?" she asked.

"Mittens gave it to me. I couldn't turn it down; she would've been suspicious."

"That's not what I meant, Shadow, I mean, it won't help you escape your life. We're mice; we don't need money, remember?"

Shadow sighed, then looked up. "You'll think I'm nuts, but I want to buy my groceries."

Gadget was a bit surprised. "I...don't think you're crazy, but I don't understand."

"I don't like eating garbage, and to me, stealing is stealing. I can't differentiate between stealing bread, stealing a woman's engagement ring, or even taking from other mice."

"But it's not stealing if it's what you need to live."

Shadow nodded. "Except I can't think that way, like you guys can. But if I pay for what I take, I won't have to steal from anyone. Don't worry; I'll try to help those other mice get out of the gutter, once I've got things figured out."

"What else are you going to do?" asked Gadget.

Shadow shrugged. "Maybe catch a showing of this play sometime; that girl Mandy'd be impressed if I told her I'd seen her performance."

Gadget laughed quietly, then sobered. "You have a place to stay?"

"I'll find one."

"You could always stay with us for a while, if you need to."

Shadow smiled half-heartedly. "You'll know I'm really desperate if I do that, all right?"

Gadget frowned. "If you ever need anything..."

Shadow grinned. "Now you're sounding like a mom! Don't worry about me, Gadget. I might come over sometime just to talk, but I don't need any more help than that. I've gotten by on a lot less help than that."

Gadget nodded. "OK, one more question."

"Go ahead."

Gadget paused. "Why'd you save me all those times?"

Seriously, Shadow said, "I really admire you. You're very talented, and also one of the kindest mice on the planet." He continued, "When Fat Cat hired me, I made myself hate the other Rangers--I'm still not too fond of them--but I couldn't hate you. I couldn't bring you to him with the others; I didn't want to see the look on your face when you realized you were going to be eaten. That's why I hooked up that laptop to shock you. I figured it'd knock you out, and I could take you to Fat Cat's. Except I couldn't..."

Throughout Shadow's monologue, Gadget had her mouth open in surprise.

Shadow frowned and looked down. "After all that...can we possibly still be friends?"

After a moment, Gadget smiled at him. "Promise you won't take on any more hit man jobs?"

"I promise," Shadow smiled sincerely.

Gadget put a paw on his shoulder, smiled widely, and stood up straight. "Okay, we'll be friends." she said. "Now I guess we should be getting back, then--"

"Gadget? Thanks for trusting me," Shadow said quietly.

"Sure," Gadget smiled, then whispered, "I'm glad I did."

They walked back to where they had left the other Rangers. "Hey!" shouted Shadow as soon as he saw them. His bag of gold was open, and Dale had his head inside it.

"Guys!" Gadget added. Shadow pulled Dale out of his bag by the collar.

"Kid, you've got enough gold in there t' buy your own cheese factory!" Monty said, amazed (and exaggerating).

Chip added, "You really should give it to the police."

Shadow shrugged, slinging the bag over his shoulder again, with quite a struggle. "Don't worry, Chip. I'll take good care of the gold. I should be able to buy a lot of groceries with it." He waved at the Rangers with his left hand, looking at Gadget. "I'll see you guys later." He slipped Gadget a piece of paper, and, without another word, he left.

Gadget looked at the paper.

'Three parts strawberry juice, one part nutmeg.'

The recipe! Gadget grinned.

"Groceries?" Chip, Dale, Zipper, and Monty all said doubtfully.

Gadget sobered, and looked off in the direction Shadow had left, though he was no longer visible. "Guys, I hate to say it, especially after he almost got us killed, but I think Shadow's kind of more honest than any of us."

Gadget's teammates laughed, obviously not believing her for a second, and Gadget didn't push the issue. Maybe she'd explain to them someday, when Shadow had proven himself to them. Or maybe she was wrong--it did seem kind of silly to do dishonest work so you could stop stealing. Maybe everyone had to find their own way to deal with life...as long as Shadow lived honestly now, it would be okay. Anyway, Gadget suspected that the Rangers had made a valuable friend and ally, one who was just discovering the joys of helping others and doing good in the world.

Or, at the very least, Gadget had found a fan.

(Note from the author: I have NO IDEA what great quantites of nutmeg may do to your pets, so don't try it! 'Kay?)


End file.
